Cochrane Oral Health has undertaken an extensive prioritisation process, to determine the priority areas for evidence synthesis in oral health. Find out how we went about prioritising our reviews here.
The titles listed below were established as our priorities to undertake or to update, and some have already been completed as the date of last publication indicates. Cochrane Oral Health's infrastructure funding from the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) will cease as of 31 March 2023 (a statement on the infrastructure funding is available here). As a result of this funding coming to an end, the Editorial Team are only able to undertake selected reviews at this time and we are actively working on the priority titles marked with a *.
Priority reviews to update
The following titles are reviews previously published by Cochrane Oral Health. They have been prioritised for updating, and are presented in rank order, as decided by our panel of consumers, policy-makers, guideline developers, clinicians and researchers.
The Editorial Base Team also agreed that the following reviews should be regarded as priorities, as they form a suite with Interventions for the treatment of oral and oropharyngeal cancers: surgical treatment:
Priority topics for new reviews
A number of topic areas emerged from the priority setting process which currently do not form part of Cochrane Oral Health's portfolio. They are presented in rank order, as decided by our panel of consumers, policy-makers, guideline developers, clinicians and researchers:
Review title | Decision |
What are the best ways to prevent tooth decay and oral disease in the elderly? | NEW! See our Priority Collection on the evidence available from Cochrane reviews. |
How can oral cancer be prevented? | We are not actively working on this title but we recognise it is a priority title. |
What is the best way to promote better oral health? | We are not actively working on this title but we recognise it is a priority title. |
What is the best way to measure the risk of tooth decay? | After discussion, we decided that this question is not suitable for a Cochrane review, although it is an important question. It would also overlap work currently being undertaken by the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme, and we do not want to contribute to research waste. |
At what stage of tooth decay should a dentist use a drill? | We are not actively working on this title but we recognise it is a priority title. |
How should I brush my teeth? For how long, and how often? | We agreed that there was not enough available evidence to warrant separate reviews on these questions. Instead, we will incorporate what little evidence there is into our existing reviews on toothbrushing and toothpaste. |
What are the best ways to prevent oral diseases in the elderly living in nursing homes or other institutions? | We are not actively working on this title but we recognise it is a priority title. We are working on an update of our review of Oral health educational interventions for nursing home staff and residents. |
By changing parental, or primary care-giver behaviours, can tooth decay in children be prevented? | We are not actively working on this title but we recognise it is a priority title. We are working on an update of our review of Interventions with pregnant women and new mothers for preventing caries in children. |
Interventions for managing root caries* | This title has been registered and a review is underway. We aim to publish it in 2023-4. |
Does a better diet or diet supplements improve oral health? If so what are the best foods/nutrients/supplements? | We are not actively working on this title but we recognise it is a priority title. |
What role does technology play in providing dental care? | This is a very broad topic area and there is potential for one or more new titles to be registered. We agreed that we would like to explore the area of teledentistry in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. A review has been registered. |
Topical silver diamine fluoride for managing dental caries in children and adults* | This title has been registered and a review is underway. We aim to publish it in 2023. |
Psychological interventions for improving adherence to oral hygiene instructions in adults with periodontal diseases* | This title has been registered and a review is underway. We aim to publish it in 2024. |
Adjunctive systemic antimicrobials for the non‐surgical treatment of periodontitis | Now published on the Cochrane Library (November 2020) |
Can taking probiotics (live bacteria and yeasts) prevent and control chronic gum disease (periodontitis)? | We are not actively working on this title but we recognise it is a priority title. |