The Effectiveness of Topical Fluorides in Preventing Dental Caries in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

This study aims to assess the effectiveness of topical fluoride treatments, including mouth rinses, toothpaste, gels, foams and varnish, in preventing dental caries in children and adolescents through a systematic review and meta-analysis. It primarily focuses on the impact of different intervention frequencies, durations, concentrations, and types of fluoride on the incidence of dental caries and on changes in decayed, missing and filled surfaces (DMFS) and the surface area of initial caries (SIC) indices.

Clinical intervention studies that met the inclusion criteria were identified through searches of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect, SinoMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure and Wanfang databases. The literature search was conducted on 2 June 2025 and covered publications between 1 January 2000 and 31 May 2025. Two independent reviewers performed literature screening, data extraction and risk-of-bias assessment. A meta-analysis was performed using fixed-effects or random-effects models. Subgroup analyses and narrative heterogeneity exploration were conducted according to fluoride concentration, intervention frequency, duration, age group and control type. Safety outcomes were narratively summarised.