An introduction to interpreting meta-analyses for orthodontists

Evidence synthesis of primary orthodontic studies is crucial in advancing the dental and orthodontic field. The quality of conclusions delivered to the end-users of systematic reviews is contingent upon the appropriateness and diligence of the systematic review methods. The article provides a description of the core components of pairwise meta-analysis, a statistical tool that synthesises the findings of several related primary studies. Emphasis is placed on the features and good selection practices of the available meta-analysis models, proper visualisation of the results and the concept of statistical heterogeneity. A real-life systematic review is used to exemplify the introduced methods.