Prevalence of sports-related traumatic orofacial and dental injuries in Asian countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The head and face, due to their prominent positions, are at risk of intentional and unintentional injuries in the majority of competitive sports. There are regional preferences for sports and differences in infrastructural facilities. The majority of the recommendations for sports have been based on the studies conducted in the western world. Hence, this systematic review aimed to estimate the prevalence of sports-related orofacial and dental injuries in professional-sportspersons living in Asian countries. EVIDENCE ACQUISITION: A protocol was prepared as per the best practices of evidence-based medicine and registered (PROSPERO-CRD42021252488). Search strategy was based on the research question and conducted in six databases using text words and MeSH terms. Scrutiny of title and abstracts and later full-texts were done as per eligibility criteria. Data extraction was done using a pre-piloted sheet and the risk of bias (ROB) was assessed. Qualitative synthesis and meta-analyses were performed and the strength of evidence was assessed by using GRADE-approach. EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS: Twenty-three studies published between 1998 to 2021 and from nine countries were included. The highest numbers were from Türkiye (N.=7). The total number of professional sportspersons assessed in all the included studies was 14,457. The highest prevalence of orofacial and dental injuries observed was 66.18% and the highest prevalence of dental injuries was 39.81%. Low risk of bias was seen only in four studies. The changes were observed during the sensitivity analysis with all the meta-analyses showing significant publication bias and heterogeneity. CONCLUSIONS: The pooled prevalence of the combined orofacial and dental injuries was found to be 40.6%, while that of orofacial injury was 17.1% and dental injuries was 15.9%. There were 23 studies included in this review which covered 27 different sports from nine Asian countries. A high level of heterogeneity and the high ROB were observed in the majority of the studies. Further studies on the basis of the recommendations provided in the systematic review will improve the quality of evidence in this area in future.

Global status of knowledge of parents for emergency management of traumatic dental injuries: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

RESEARCH PROTOCOL: The protocol was developed as per the recommendations of the Cochrane-handbook and PRISMA and was registered in PROSPERO. LITERATURE SEARCH: Search was performed by using MeSH-Terms and keywords in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Sciences, Lilacs, and Cochrane databases and gray literature sources 15th July 2022. There were no limits regarding the year of publication and language. Hand-searching of included articles was also performed. Titles and abstracts and later full texts were screened as per strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. DATA EXTRACTION: Self-designed pilot-tested form was used. QUALITY APPRAISAL: Risk of bias was analyzed through Joanna-Brigg's-Institute's-critical appraisal checklist. The evidence analysis was done by using the GRADE approach. DATA ANALYSIS: Qualitative synthesis was performed for describing the study characteristics, details of sampling, and results of various questionnaires. It was discussed by the expert group and presented using KAP heat map. Meta-analysis was done by using Random Effects Model. RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION: The risk of bias was found to be low in seven and moderate in one study. It was observed that >50% of parents knew about the urgency to seek professional advice after TDI. Only <50% of parents were confident of their ability to identify the injured tooth, clean the soiled avulsed tooth, and perform the replantation. Appropriate responses regarding immediate action after tooth avulsion were given by 54.5% (95% CI: 50.2-58.8, p = 0.042) of parents. The knowledge of the parents regarding the emergency management of TDI was found to be inadequate. The majority of them were interested in obtaining information about dental trauma first aid.

Does dental trauma have impact on the oral health-related quality of life of children and adolescents?

RESEARCH QUESTION: Does dental trauma have impact on the oral health-related quality of life of children and adolescents? RESEARCH PROTOCOL: Protocol was designed as per the best practices of evidence-based medicine, guidelines for umbrella reviews and registered in PROSPERO. LITERATURE SEARCH: PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Sciences and Lilacs were searched for studies meeting the inclusion criteria from start of databases to 15th July 2021. Grey literature and registries of systematic review protocols were also searched. Hand searching of the references of included articles was also performed. The literature search was updated on 15th October 2021. Scrutiny of the titles and abstracts and later full text was done as per the inclusion and exclusion criteria. DATA EXTRACTION: Self-designed pre-piloted form was used by two reviewers. QUALITY APPRAISAL: AMSTAR-2 was used to assess the quality of systematic reviews, PRISMA was used to check reporting-characteristics and citation-matrix was used to evaluate study-overlap. Quality of evidence was assessed by using Kohler's-criteria. DATA ANALYSIS: Qualitative synthesis was performed for describing the study characteristics, details of sampling and the tool of OHRQoL used. The meta-analytic data was used for evaluating the evidence and its strength for each of the outcomes. RESULTS AND INTERPRETATION: A significant impact of all types of TDI on OHRQoL in children and adolescents was observed. The effect of uncomplicated TDI on OHRQoL in children and all ages showed no difference from controls. Though the quality of evidence in these interpretations was weak.

Cone-Beam Computed Tomographic Assessment of Maxillary Sinus Characteristics in Patients With Cleft Lip and Palate: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the maxillary sinus characteristics of patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP).The study included manuscripts which met the following criteria: (1) study of individuals with CLP in any age group or gender and (2) study of individuals in whom assessment of maxillary sinus characteristics had been done by cone-beam computed tomography. Studies with (1) individuals having special health-care needs and (2) individuals with any syndrome affecting the development of the head and neck were excluded.In total, 11 articles were included in the review, based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. Pooled maxillary sinus volume (MSV) on the cleft sides of patients with unilateral cleft lip and palate (UCLP) was found to be 9433.14 mm3 (95% CI, 7453.99-11 412.30), which was significantly smaller than that of controls. The meta-analyses also revealed significantly reduced MSV on the cleft sides of patients with UCLP. The differences between cleft and noncleft sides of the patients with UCLP were not found to be statistically significant. Strength-of-evidence was found to be moderate in 4 characteristics, along with 10 out of 11 articles showing low risk-of-bias.It was concluded that MSV was reduced and mucosal thickening was increased/present in patients with CLP as compared with controls. The differences between MSV of cleft and noncleft sides of the patients with UCLP could not be established. However, heterogeneity was found in terms of sample size, stratification of samples by age, and evaluation of some confounding factors.

Global Trends in Knowledge, Attitude, and Awareness of Orthodontists Regarding the Management of Patients with Cleft lip and/or Palate: A Systematic Review.

The aim of the present systematic review was to assess the trends in knowledge, attitude, awareness, and practice among orthodontists regarding the management of patients with cleft lip and/or palate.An a priori protocol was developed as per the best practices of evidence-based medicine and registered in Prospero (CRD42022306107). The literature search was conducted electronically, using MeSH-terms, keywords, and Boolean-operators "AND" and "OR" in different combinations in multiple databases and screening of titles and abstracts followed by full-text evaluation was performed. The risk of bias (ROB) was assessed using Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal checklist.Five studies were included in the qualitative synthesis and three of them showed a high ROB. When participants were questioned about which other specialists worked in the cleft team in addition to the orthodontists, 84% of them in one study reported it to be general dentists. Furthermore, the absence of an interdisciplinary team was reported in two studies from Africa. When asked about the percentage of their practice devoted to the care of patients with cleft lip and palate (CLP) one study reported that 52% of orthodontists had treated <10 such patients in their entire career.The present systematic review highlights the lack of knowledge and experience among orthodontists and orthodontic residents regarding the management of patients with CLP. Efforts must be made to design validated questionnaires and conduct methodologically sound studies in different geographical locations to develop adequate modules for improving the knowledge of orthodontists in this domain.

Effect of Intracanal Scaffolds on the Success Outcomes of Regenerative Endodontic Therapy - A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The scaffolds used in regenerative endodontic therapy (RET) provide structural support for cells so that they can adhere to the scaffolds and also are crucial for cellular proliferation and differentiation. The objective of this network meta-analysis was to compare effects of different intracanal scaffolds on success outcomes of RET. METHODS: PubMed/Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science databases were searched. Studies evaluating and/or comparing clinical and/or radiographic success of RET using different scaffolds with a minimum of 12 months follow-up were included. The Cochrane Collaboration risk of bias (ROB) tool and appropriate tools from Joanna Briggs Institute were used for the assessment of ROB. A network meta-analysis was performed to compare the primary outcome (clinical success) and other success outcomes (root maturation, and pulpal sensibility) using different scaffolds. RESULTS: Twenty-seven studies fulfilled the desired inclusion criteria of which 25 had a low ROB whereas 2 had a moderate ROB. Clinical success of RET using platelet-rich plasma (PRP), blood clot (BC), and platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) scaffolds ranged between 91.66%-100%, 84.61%-100%, and 77%-100% respectively. The different scaffolds did not show any statistically significant difference in clinical success (PRF vs BC [P = 1.000], PRP vs BC [P = 1.000], and PRF vs PRP [P = .999]), apical root closure (PRF vs BC [P = 1.000], PRP vs BC [P = .835], PRF vs PRP [P = .956]), and pulp sensibility (PRF vs BC [P = .980], PRP versus BC [P = .520], and PRF vs PRP [P = .990]). CONCLUSION: The intracanal scaffolds used during RET did not result in significant differences in regard to clinical success, root maturation, and pulpal sensibility.

How Informative Is YouTube Regarding Feeding in Infants with Cleft Lip and Palate?

OBJECTIVE: To assess the characteristics of popular videos on YouTube about the feeding of infants with cleft lip and palate (CLP) and analyze the adequacy of information provided by them. DESIGN: A cross-sectional design was used. METHODS: YouTube was systematically searched for consecutive relevant videos about the feeding of infants with CLP, using predefined keyword combinations, without any limitations on language or duration. Scrutiny of the top 50 videos for each keyword combination was performed and a self-designed data-extraction sheet was used. A content adequacy index was developed by an expert group, and used to assess content adequacy, classifying it into categories from excellent to poor. RESULTS: From an initial retrieval of 200 videos, 42 were included in the final assessment. The videos originated from nine different countries, with more than half coming from the USA and in English. Five of the videos came from the channel of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association. Content adequacy analysis showed that no video could be classified as excellent, while 33.3% were classified as optimal, 21.4% as suboptimal and 45.2% as poor. CONCLUSIONS: The content adequacy of the majority of videos on YouTube, relating to the feeding of infants with CLP was inadequate, with only one third of them achieving optimal content adequacy. Efforts must be made to develop informative and standardized videos for social media and video-sharing platforms, perhaps through professional associations to ensure that families with an infant with CLP receive appropriate information.

How far have we come? A historic scoping review of dental traumatology literature.

The status of the protocols used for the management of dental trauma (DT) in the eighteenth and early nineteenth-century is largely unknown. The end of World War II saw a tremendous resurgence of high quality research and the development of codes of ethics and publishing. The aim of this scoping review was to analyse articles related to aspects of DT published before 1945 in the English language. An expert group discussion was done to create an a priori protocol based on the PRISMA-2020-guidelines' extension for scoping reviews. A systematic search strategy based upon the Population (P), Exposure (E), Comparator (C), Outcome (O) and Time (T) was performed in five databases on 10 February 2022. Filters were used to identify the literature until 1945, and duplicates were removed. The scrutiny of the titles and abstracts and later the full texts was performed as per the pre-defined eligibility criteria. The grey literature and archives of the English language dentistry literature were searched, and a reference search was also performed. A total of 13 studies were selected from the databases and 20 from the reference searching. The first reported article was from the year 1872. Two other case reports had been published by 1899 and three more before World War I (1914). The majority of the studies originated from the United States of America. Nineteen were case reports, five were original research articles, two were classifications and guidelines papers, and one was a review. During the period before 1945, 33 articles were published regarding DT. The articles were mostly related to the description of cases, although there were a few original research papers. A significant observation, contrary to popular belief, was the presence of articles related to conservative management of injuries to tooth roots and the dental pulp. A progression in terms of the quality of protocols over time was also observed.

Sources of support and Conflicts of interests.

The aim of this letter to the editor was to highlight the importance of adding sources of support and conflicts of interests in the published articles so that they are adequately analysed for their quality by using AMSTAR-2 tool.

Comparative evaluation of fragment reattachment protocols for the management of teeth with crown-root fractures.

BACKGROUND/AIM: A crown-root fracture is a fracture of both the crown and the root of a tooth. The International Association of Dental Traumatology (2020) guidelines recommended fragment reattachment and stabilization of loose fragments as an immediate management protocol for uncomplicated crown-root fractures. However, the lack of evidence and unpredictability make it a less popular treatment option. The aim of this study was to compare three protocols of fragment reattachment for the management of teeth with crown-root fractures. METHODOLOGY: Eighty mandibular bovine incisors with similar dimensions and no structural deformities were selected and randomized into four groups: Group I (Control/sound teeth); Group II (no rehydration); Group III (rehydration in distilled water for 15 min) and Group IV (rehydration in a humidification chamber for 15 min). A fracture was simulated to extend from the labial side of the middle-third of the crown to the palatal side of the cervical-third of the root. Fragments were exposed to the environment under normal temperature and pressure. Fragments were later reattached as per the standard protocol following the rehydration as specified for each group. Samples were subjected to thermocycling, and the force required to fracture them was evaluated by using a universal testing machine. RESULTS: The highest mean force required to fracture was seen in Group IV (208.27 ± 75.99 N) followed by Group III (182.01 ± 90.13 N) and Group II (158.85 ± 68.04 N). These differences were statistically significant. Comparison of the mean difference of force required to fracture between pairs of groups revealed statistically significant mean differences only between the controls and each experimental group. CONCLUSION: The force required to fracture the reattached fragments in teeth with crown-root fractures was affected by rehydration of the fragments. The force was higher in fragments reattached after rehydration, and the highest force was required in the teeth that had been rehydrated in a humidification chamber.

Success of medicaments and techniques for pulpotomy of primary teeth: An overview of systematic reviews.

BACKGROUND: Pulpotomy is an effective, vital pulp therapy procedure for caries-affected or traumatized primary teeth. Though its efficacy is widely accepted, the superiority of medicaments and techniques remains debatable. AIM: The aims of this review were to compare the success rates of various pulpotomy medicaments or techniques, assess the methodological quality of reviews, and grade the level of evidence for each comparison. DESIGN: This review followed the principles of evidence-based medicine and recommendations for the overview of systematic reviews. An a priori protocol was registered in the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO; CRD42021244489). A comprehensive literature search was performed by two reviewers, and studies were selected from various databases according to predefined criteria. Two reviewers independently used a self-designed pilot-tested form to extract data from the selected studies. A quality analysis was performed using A MeaSurement Tool to Assess systematic Reviews-2 (AMSTAR-2) and the ROBIS tool. Reporting characteristics and overlap of the primary studies were also assessed. We used modified Köhler's criteria for evaluating the quality of evidence for outcomes of included systematic reviews and meta-analyses. RESULTS: The scrutiny of 62 full-text articles resulted in the inclusion of eight systematic reviews. The quality of four of the reviews was found to be critically low, and the overlap of primary studies in the meta-analyses was found to be high. Pulpotomy medicaments/techniques, except calcium hydroxide, had success rates of more than 80% for all domains and time periods. Most of the comparisons revealed no differences in the clinical, radiographic, or overall success rates. Mineral trioxide aggregate, however, was found to have better radiographic and overall success rates than calcium hydroxide at periods greater than 12 and 18 months. It also had a greater radiographic success rate than full-strength/1:5 diluted and full-strength formocresol at 24 months. Formocresol was found to have better overall success rates than calcium hydroxide at all time periods and better radiographic success rates at 12 months. Only 12 of the 63 comparisons had suggestive or weak evidence, whereas all others had either negligible evidence or insufficient data. CONCLUSIONS: The pulpotomy medicaments/techniques, except calcium hydroxide, showed success rates of more than 80%, whereas most comparisons revealed no differences. Mineral trioxide aggregate, however, was found to be better than calcium hydroxide and formocresol in several respects. This study highlights the lack of evidence regarding the choice of pulpotomy agents for the treatment of caries-affected primary teeth and elucidates the domains that require primary studies in the future.

An effective method to summarise the outcomes of questionnaire-based studies in systematic reviews.

With an increased number of questionnaire-based knowledge, attitude, practice and other types of studies, there is a need to perform evidence-based research in such designs as well. The systematic reviews (SR) and meta-analyses (MA) of the questionnaire-based studies are difficult to conduct and summarise due to the wide variations in the questions included in each of them. The presentation of these reviews often leads to ambiguous conclusions, and meta-analysis is not possible due to wide heterogeneity. This paper aims to highlight a method known as the 'Knowledge-Attitude-Practice' or 'KAP' Heat Map, which was developed and validated for the effective presentation of the outcomes of varied questionnaires in systematic reviews.

'CARE compliance' of case reports published in Dental Traumatology in the past two decades: A bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The journal Dental Traumatology (DT) is one of the best resources in the field of dental traumatology. It has always encouraged publication of case reports of good quality. The CARE statement (2011) was developed for uniform and transparent reporting of cases in medical sciences. Since case reports are inseparable from the DT literature, the aim of this bibliometric-analysis was to evaluate the case reports published in the DT in the last two decades (2001-2021) and assess their compliance regarding CARE guidelines for elucidating the trends in DT and the reporting quality of these papers. METHODOLOGY: Two authors independently observed the tables of contents in all issues of DT from 2002-2021 and identified case reports. Selected articles were scrutinized to determine their eligibility. Data extraction was performed, case reports were segregated into domains, and their CARE compliance was evaluated by using a self-designed-validated method. Differences between the case reports published in two decades (2002-2011 and 2012-2021) were analysed with the Chi-square test. RESULTS: A total of 1612 articles published between February 2002 and October 2021 were scrutinized to identify 357 case reports with 277 from the period of 2002-2011 and 80 between 2012 and 2021. The highest number of case reports originated from Asia (2002-2011:135, 2012-2021:28). The CARE compliances of the majority of reports in the decade of 2002-2011 were between 75 and 85% (good) while the CARE compliances of the majority of reports from 2012-2021 were between 85 and 95% (very good) or >95% (excellent). These differences were statistically significant (p < .005). CONCLUSIONS: The number of case reports published in the decade of 2002-2011 were more than three times the number of case reports published in the decade of 2012-2021. The highest number of reports in both decades were from Asia and belonged to the therapeutic and prognostic domains. The CARE compliances of the reports in the decade of 2012-2021 were better than those from 2002-2011.

Comparison of three protocols for the management of re-fracture of teeth with uncomplicated crown fractures.

BACKGROUND: Crown fractures restored by fragment reattachment are liable to re-fracture, which may cause fragment dislodgement. There is a paucity of literature regarding management of fragment reattachment cases following a further fracture. Hence the aim of the present in-vitro study was to evaluate and compare the efficacy of three different management protocols for such scenarios. METHODOLOGY: Eighty maxillary bovine incisors without structural deformity and with similar dimensions were fractured as per the standard protocol. They were subjected to drying for 24 hours and the fragments were rehydrated by placing them in a humidification chamber for 15 minutes. They were then reattached by using flowable light-cured composite resin. The teeth (n=20) were fractured again by fixing them in a mechanical frame and using a mallet. They were randomly allocated to three experimental groups. (Group I mechanical abrasion and fragment reattachment, Group II mechanical abrasion, humidification and reattachment, Group III mechanical abrasion and composite restoration, and Group IV positive control with no re-fracture). The samples were thermocycled and the force required to fracture was tested by using a universal testing machine (Instron-3360, USA). This was done by applying a tangential load with a speed of 1 mm/min to the teeth with a 500-kg load cell. Statistical analysis of the results was performed using ANOVA and the independent t-test. RESULTS: The highest force required to fracture was reported in Group IV (333.26 ± 66.69N) while the lowest was in Group II (254.86 ± 105.23N). The forces in Group I and Group II were 258.36 ± 65.78N and 298.02 ± 97.94N, respectively (p=0.016, F=3.68). The independent t-test between the groups revealed a significant difference between Group I and Group IV (p= 0.001) and Group II and Group IV (p=0.009). CONCLUSION: The force required to fracture was significantly lower in the groups involving attachment of the re-fractured fragments. Among the experimental groups, the group with composite restoration required the highest force to fracture.

Evidence mapping and quality analysis of published dental literature on COVID-19 - A systematic review.

A large number of scientific articles have been published regarding impact of COVID-19 infection on dental practice, dental professionals, and the mode of spread of infection via dental procedures. The present systematic review was planned with an aim of evidence mapping and quality analysis of published research on the dental aspects of COVID-19 infection. The protocol was registered at https://share.osf.io/registration/46221-C87-BA8. The search was performed in Scopus, PubMed, Cochrane, and Embase databases till 15th July 2020. There was no restriction of year of publication and language. All types of published articles related to Dentistry, Dentist, Dental practice, and Oral health education on COVID-19 were included. The Joanna Briggs Institute's (JBI) Critical Appraisal Tools were used for the risk of bias analysis of included studies. A total of 393 articles were short-listed and were checked for eligibility and finally, 380 articles were included. Among the 380 research articles published (till July 15, 2020), the majority of the included articles belonged to the lowermost strata of the evidence pyramid. There were 54 original research articles with no randomized clinical trial, systematic review or, meta-analysis pertaining to the dental perspective of COVID-19 infection. The level of available evidence about dentistry and COVID-19 infection is very low with a lack of researches of highest quality. The guidelines/recommendations for dental professionals, proposed by the different scientific organizations/societies regarding COVID-19 infection are only consensus-based necessitating the need to formulate evidence-based guidelines. There is a need to identify essential research questions and strengthen the study designs in most of the aspects related to the dentistry and COVID-19 pandemic.

Global status of knowledge for the prevention and emergency management of traumatic dental injuries among non-dental healthcare professionals: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: This Systematic Review was conducted to evaluate the global status of the knowledge of prevention and emergency management of traumatic dental injuries among non-dental healthcare professionals (NDHCP). METHODS: The protocol was designed as per PRISMA guidelines and registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020192381). A broad-based search using text-words and MeSH terms was performed in established databases as per a predefined strategy without any distinction of language and year of publication. Studies without details of the questionnaire, knowledge score, validity and reliability were excluded. Data extraction was performed and risk of bias assessment was done using the Joanna Briggs Institute's critical appraisal tool and a meta-analysis was performed. RESULTS: The qualitative synthesis included 14 studies between 2009-2020 with nine of them from Asia. Majority of the studies had low risk of bias and reported poor overall level of knowledge. Less than 40% of the NDHCP had received a dental trauma first aid training in six of the 10 studies and majority of the participants (>50%) believed that dental trauma training was required in five studies. Less than 36% of the participants were adequately aware of the correct approach towards management of avulsed permanent tooth in five studies. CONCLUSION: The knowledge of non-dental health care professionals regarding the emergency management of traumatic dental injuries was insufficient or low in the majority of studies and the knowledge about prevention was not evaluated. There was a paucity of studies from the countries of Europe and Australia, with wide variability in the study methods, categories of the participants and questionnaire characteristics.

Global status of knowledge for prevention and emergency management of traumatic dental injuries in sports persons and coaches: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Sports-related dental injuries can cause pain, disfigurement, and broken teeth which may affect the athlete's well-being and psychological status. Such injuries may also lead to the fear of re-injury and other problems. Since a delay in adequate emergency treatment can have adverse effects, it is imperative that athletes and coaches have sufficient awareness of emergency treatment options. Hence, the aim of this systematic review was to evaluate the global status of knowledge among athletes and coaches regarding the prevention and emergency management of traumatic dental injuries. METHODS: The protocol was designed using the PRISMA guidelines and registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020184956). A broad-based search using text words and MeSH terms was performed in established databases according to a predefined strategy without any distinction of language and year of publication. Studies without details of the questionnaire, knowledge score, validity, and reliability were excluded. Data extraction was performed and risk-of-bias assessment was done by means of the Joanna Briggs Institute's critical appraisal tool. RESULTS: Nine studies published between 2005 and 2020 were included for qualitative synthesis. They were primarily from Asia with none from North America and Australia. Most of them were cross-sectional, used convenience sampling, and were interview-based. Less than 10% of the participants in two studies had adequate knowledge of the immediate emergency management of tooth avulsion, while only 2.4% of basketball players and coaches knew that it was necessary to collect the avulsed tooth or broken tooth fragments. The overall level of knowledge was reported as poor or insufficient in all studies, with moderate or high risk-of-bias in six studies. CONCLUSION: The knowledge regarding emergency management of TDI was found to be low globally. Along with the choice of the sport, there was a high level of variability in the study design and sampling characteristics.

Evidence mapping and quality assessment of systematic reviews in dental traumatology.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Evidence mapping of systematic reviews (SRs) systematically and comprehensively identifies, organizes, and summarizes the distribution of scientific evidence in a field. The aims of this study were to delineate domains in dental traumatology (DT), evaluate the existing SRs within the domains, and identify the paucity of evidence for future research. METHODS: Domains and sub-domains of DT were established according to the methods of qualitative research. The protocol for evidence mapping was prepared as per the guidelines of GEM and PRISMA. The search strategy was formulated using words and MeSH terms in eight databases without restriction of languages and year of publication. Gray literature, protocol registries, and references of selected articles were also searched. Duplicates were removed, and the final selection of SRs was completed. Data extraction and quality analysis using the ROBIS tool and the PRISMA checklist were performed. RESULTS: The overall search resulted in 64 SRs from 1999 to 2020 with 44 published in last six years. The highest number of SRs had been performed in the Prognostic domain (n = 19) followed by the domains of Epidemiology (n = 15), Therapeutics (n = 10), Oral Biology (n = 7), Diagnostics (n = 6), Preventive (n = 5), and Research Methods (n = 2). Within each domain, there were variabilities in the number of reviewers, a priori protocols, search limitations, risk of bias methods, and meta-analysis. Of the SRs, including 4 Cochrane reviews, 28.4% were inconclusive. A low risk of bias was found in 48.4% of the SRs. Among the registered and ongoing SRs, six were from the domain of epidemiology, two in the domain of therapeutics, five from prognostics, and one each in the domains of prevention and research methods. CONCLUSION: The SRs in DT could be mapped in seven domains with variabilities in the methods. The majority had an a priori registered protocol and a low risk of reporting errors. Within the Epidemiology and Preventive domains, SRs were present in all the sub-domains with the majority demonstrating low-risk of bias (ROB). The domain of prognosis had SRs in most sub-domains but with a high ROB. Insufficient numbers of SRs were present in most sub-domains of the Diagnostics, Therapeutics, Research Methods and Oral Biology domains.