QA Criterion QA Criterion Met (%) QA Criterion Not Met (%) Study Aim/Objective Stated 20 (64.5) 11 (35.5) Study Methodology Justified 25 (80.6) 6 (19.4) Study Context Described 16 (51.8) 15 (48.2) Sampling Method Appropriate 13 (41.9) 18 (58.1) Statistical Analysis Appropriate 12 (58.7) 19 (61.3) Conclusions Supported by Evidence 21 (67.7) 10 (32.3) Periodontitis Mentioned/Considered 0 0

Table 3: Quality Assessment Criteria and Scores. Results of quality assessment of publications based on 7 criteria. No paper was excluded based on quality assessment results. None of the publications mentioned or considered periodontitis.