Abstract
AIM: To appraise quantitatively current evidence regarding the caries-preventing effect of resin-modified glass-ionomer cement (RM-GIC) fissure sealants in comparison to that of resin-based fissure sealants. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review with meta-analysis. METHODS: 8 Anglophone databases and 2 Lusophone databases were searched until 15 April 2009, using a pre-determined search strategy. Clinical trials were considered for inclusion if their titles/abstracts were relevant to the topic, published in English, Portuguese or Spanish and had a two-arm longitudinal study design. The outcome measure of the caries-preventive effect was caries absence on sealed teeth. Two reviewers independently extracted data from the accepted articles in order to complete a 2×2 table for meta-analysis. The unit of interest was the tooth, and the number of caries-free teeth (n) at the end of each time interval (6, 12 and 24 months) was compared against the total number of evaluated teeth (N) STATISTICS: Datasets were assessed for their clinical and methodological heterogeneity, following Cochrane guidelines, and only homogeneous datasets were combined for meta-analysis, using a random effects model (RevMan 4.2). Differences in the caries-preventive effect were computed on the basis of the combined Relative Risk (RR) with 95% confidence interval (CI). RESULTS: Of the 212 articles identified, only 6 trials were included. From these, 19 separate datasets were extracted. For the pooled data, equivalent caries-preventive effects were observed at 6 months (RR= 0.98, 95% CI 0.95–1.00; p = 0.08); 12 months (RR=1.00, 95% CI 0.96–1.04, p = 0.99) and 24 months (RR=1.01, 95% CI 0.84–1.21, p = 0.91). The 36-month data (not pooled) favoured resin-based sealants (RR 0.93, 95% CI 0.88–0.97, p = 0.002) CONCLUSIONS: This meta-analysis found no conclusive evidence that either material was superior to the other in preventing dental caries.
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Yengopal, V., Mickenautsch, S. Resin-modified glass-ionomer cements versus resin-based materials as fissure sealants: a meta-analysis of clinical trials. Eur Arch Paediatr Dent 11, 18–25 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03262705
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03262705