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Dental caries is one of the most common oral diseases that affect children as well as adults globally. The prevalence of dental caries among 5-year-old Sri Lankan children remains high, creating the need of regular well-panned preventive programs. The use of fluorides is a one of the milestones in preventing dental caries. The aim of the present opinion review is to summarize the available literature on different fluoride modalities used to prevent dental caries globally and discuss the strengths and weaknesses of those regarding the Sri Lankan context. The authors searched for systematic reviews and meta-analysis on fluorides in the prevention of dental caries where the best evidence is synthesized and summarized in this article with the opinion of the authors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Methods Results Conclusions Causal analysis including causal inference and causal mediation is pivotal to inform effective interventions. In modern epidemilogy, causal analysis involves four key steps: formulating causal questions, employing directed acyclic graphs (DAGs), conducting data management and selecting statistical strategies. Our objective was to conduct a scoping review to assess how longitudinal observational studies (LOSs) in dental field have integrated these four steps to contribute leverage evidence that inform oral public health interventions.LOSs focusing on determinants of dental caries published from 2012 to 2024 were systematically retrieved from five major databases. The Joanna Briggs Institute‐scoping review guidance and the Covidence application were employed to identify eligible LOSs for being reviewed.Out of the 85 eligible LOSs, none formulated causal hypothesis by applying ‘what if’ question or investigated mediation across three levels of the determinants of oral health. A minority (18 studies, ~21.2%) employed DAGs to visualise relationships among study variables, while only one third (33 studies, ~39%) clearly defined confounders. The majority (64 studies, ~75%) incorporated a time‐varying feature of their data, yet only a few (11 studies) fully leveraged this advanced aspect. Among these studies that fully utilised time‐varying data, more than half encountered challenges in employing robust statistics to address confounders arising from such data dynamics.Dental LOSs have, to date, mostly focused on investigating associations over causality, often neglecting the four‐step causal analysis and not fully utilising time‐varying data. Researchers necessitate to shift their focus to causal inference and prioritise building capacity in causal analysis with a consistent four‐step approach to advance the field. Studies exploring mechanisms linking determinants of dental caries across levels and leveraging time‐varying data are strongly encouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]