Lack of reliable evidence of the effectiveness of remineralising agents for the treatment of post orthodontic white spot lesions

Abstracted from Chen H, Liu X, Dai J, Jiang Z, Guo T, Ding Y. Effect of remineralizing agents on white spot lesions after orthodontic treatment: a systematic review. Am J Orthod Dentofacial Orthop 2013; 143: 376–382.Address for correspondence: Yin Ding, Department of Orthodontics, School of Stomatology, Fourth Military Medical University, No.17, Changle West Road, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China, 710032. E-mail: Dingyin@fmmu.edu.cn SUMMARY REVIEW/CARIES Data sources PubMed, Medline, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library databases were searched.Study selection Selection was conducted independently by two reviewers, only randomised controlled trials were included. Study quality was assessed using the Cochrane risk of bias approach. Data extraction and synthesis Data abstraction was carried out independently by two reviewers and qualitative summary presented, because of the heterogeneity of the interventions and outcome measures.Results Seven studies were included, all except one (of medium risk) were considered to be at high risk of bias. Three studies evaluated fluoride preparations (50-ppm sodium fluoride mouth rinse, 5% sodium fluoride varnish and 0.5% sodium fluoride chewing sticks). Four compared remineralising agents containing casein phosphopeptide amorphous calcium phosphate or casein phosphopeptide amorphous calcium fluoride phosphate.Conclusions Based on the literature, there is a lack of reliable evidence to support the effectiveness of remineralising agents for the treatment of post orthodontic white spot lesions.