Summary of findings for the main comparison. Xylitol toothpaste versus control toothpaste for preventing dental caries.
| Xylitol toothpaste compared with control toothpaste for preventing dental caries | ||||||
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Patient or population: children with permanent teeth Settings: schools Intervention: fluoride toothpaste containing 10% xylitol Comparison: fluoride toothpaste | ||||||
| Outcomes | Illustrative comparative risks* (95% CI) | Relative effect (95% CI) | No of Participants (studies) | Quality of the evidence (GRADE) | Comments | |
| Assumed risk | Corresponding risk | |||||
| Control | Xylitol | |||||
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Caries: increment (DFS) prevented fraction (PF) at 2.5 to 3 years follow‐up (higher DFS score indicates worse caries) |
The (weighted) mean caries increment for control groups was 2.1 | The mean caries increment in the xylitol groups was 0.28 lower (0.42 to 0.14 lower) |
PF¹ = 0.13 (0.08 to 0.18) | 4216 (2 studies) | ⊕⊕⊝⊝ low² |
The PF of 0.13 means that there was a 13% reduction in caries in the xylitol group There is no compelling evidence, from other comparisons in this systematic review, to support the use of xylitol products. The body of evidence for all other comparisons and caries outcomes is rated as being low to very low quality. This is because they are single studies with imprecision mostly due to very small sample sizes, and most of which have a high risk of bias |
| Adverse effects | Both studies reported that there were no adverse effects in either the xylitol or control group | |||||
| CI: Confidence interval; DFS: decayed filled surfaces; PF: prevented fraction | ||||||
| GRADE Working Group grades of evidence High quality: Further research is very unlikely to change our confidence in the estimate of effect. Moderate quality: Further research is likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and may change the estimate. Low quality: Further research is very likely to have an important impact on our confidence in the estimate of effect and is likely to change the estimate. Very low quality: We are very uncertain about the estimate. | ||||||
¹ The prevented fraction (PF) is calculated as follows: the mean increment in the controls minus the mean increment in the treated group divided by the mean increment in the controls
² Downgraded due to high risk of bias in the included studies (due to high attrition) and both studies were conducted by the same authors in the same population