What is the effectiveness of titanium tetrafluoride to prevent or treat dental caries and tooth erosion? A systematic review.

OBJECTIVES: Answer the question: What is the effectiveness of titanium tetrafluoride (TiF4) when compared to other fluorides, placebo solution or a negative control to prevent or treat dental caries and tooth erosion? MATERIALS AND METHODS: This review is in accordance with PRISMA guidelines. In vivo and in situ studies that used TiF4 over enamel or dentine were included. Electronic searches were conducted on MEDLINE, Scopus, Embase, WOS, Cochrane Library, VLH, Clinical Trials and OpenGrey. Risk of bias (ROB) assessments used RoB2 and ROBINS-I for randomized and non-randomized controlled trials (RCTs and on-RCTs); Syrcle's ROB tool for animal studies; and a modified tool proposed by Hollanders for in situ studies. RESULTS: A total of 28 studies met the eligibility criteria. From these, 6 were in humans (3 RCT and 3 Non-RCT); 4 were in animals and 18 were in situ. For in vivo studies, all RCTs have some concerns related to ROB and all of the non-RCT studies were classified as with serious risk. One animal study had a low and three a high ROB. Regarding in situ studies, seven had a low, ten had an average and only one had a high ROB. The certainty of the evidence (GRADE) ranged from moderate to very low. CONCLUSIONS: Although most of the results suggest a positive effect of TiF4 on the prevention and treatment of caries and dental erosion, it is not possible to have definitive conclusions due to the high studies' methodological heterogeneity, and the low quality of evidence for most outcomes. REGISTRATION: The protocol of this syste. atic review was registered in the OPEN SCIENCE FRAMEWORK database (osf.io/6dgs9) DOI:10.17605/OSF.IO/KUZA7 on 6 August 2020.

Impact of the anatomical location, alcoholism and smoking on the prevalence of advanced oral cancer in Brazil

BACKGROUND: To evaluate the prevalence of oral cancer in Brazil according to the clinical stage, anatomical location, alcoholism and smoking. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data referring to 31,217 cases of oral cancer, from 2000 to 2010, were obtained from the Integrator Module of the Hospital Registry of Cancer. Inconsistent data ("non-classified" cases) was eliminated and 21,160 cases were analyzed. The frequency distribution according to clinical stage, anatomical location, alcoholism and smoking was analyzed descriptively and through a binary logistic regression model (α<0.05). The clinical stage (dependent variable) was dichotomized in early stage (I and II) or advanced stage (III and IV). The year of diagnosis, anatomical location and deleterious habits (alcoholism and smoking) were considered independent variables. RESULTS: The most frequent characteristics were: oropharynx location (n=3856, 18.41%), clinical stage IV (n=11924, 56.09%) and combined use of alcohol and tobacco (n=19226; 61.59%). The year 2009 (p < 0.01, PR = 1.162, CI- 95%=1.053-1.283) and location at the base of tongue (p < 0.01, PR = 2.485, CI-95% = 2.182-2.807) presented a higher prevalence ratio for advanced stage oral cancer. The combined use of alcohol and tobacco showed a higher prevalence rate for the advanced clinical stage of cancer (p < 0.01, PR =1.449, CI-95%=1.382-1.520) if compared to individuals without habits, or just alcoholics. CONCLUSIONS: Higher prevalence of advanced stage of oral cancer is related to the localization at the base of the tongue and to the concomitant use of alcohol and tobacco. Therefore, it can be suggested that all these characteristics lead to a worse prognosis of oral cancer