Recently, importance of meta-analysis is increasing in the field of dentistry, since it is not easy to settle controversies arising from conflicting studies. Meta-analysis is the statistical method of combining results from two or more individual studies that have been done on the same topic. Merits of meta-analysis includes an increase in power, an improvement in precision, and the ability to address solution not provided by individual studies. However, it might mislead researchers when variation across studies and publication bias are not carefully taken into consideration. The purpose of this study is to help understand meta-analysis by making use of individual results in dental research paper.

翻译：近年来，在牙科学领域中，由于解决相互矛盾的研究所引发的争议并非易事，荟萃分析的重要性日益凸显。荟萃分析是一种统计方法，用于整合针对同一主题进行的两项或多项独立研究的结果。其优点包括提高统计功效、提升估计精度，以及能够解决单项研究无法解答的问题。然而，若未能充分考虑研究间的异质性和发表偏倚，荟萃分析也可能误导研究者。本研究旨在通过利用牙科研究论文中的个体研究结果，帮助理解荟萃分析。