Primary prevention of dental erosion by calcium and fluoride: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Overviews of the current literature only provide summaries of existing relevant preventive strategies for dental erosion. OBJECTIVES: To perform a systematic review according to the quantitative meta-analysis method of the scientific literature on prevention of dental erosion. The focused question will address primary prevention of dental erosion by calcium and fluoride. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Randomized clinical trials (RCTs) regarding dental erosion prevention. The search included five databases: Embase, Cochrane database of systematic reviews, PubMed (MEDLINE), FDA publication and Berman medical library of the Hebrew University. The search included data in the English language, with effect on preventing dental erosion always presented as mean enamel loss and measured by profilometer. Statistical meta-analysis was performed by StatsDirect program and PEPI statistical software. Fixed- and random-effect models were used to analyse the data. Heterogeneity tests were employed to validate the fixed-effect model assumption. RESULTS: A total of 475 articles on dental erosion prevention were located. A four-stage selection process was employed, and 10 RCT articles were found to be suitable for meta-analysis. CONCLUSIONS: The number of studies on prevention of dental erosion maintaining standards of evidence-based dentistry remains insufficient to reach any definite conclusions. The focused questions of this review cannot be addressed according to the existing literature.