Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) provides a workable alternative to managing caries where full restorations are not possible, an international group of researchers report in the Journal of Dental Research (July 2009, Vol. 88:7, pp. 644-647).
The researchers divided 976 Nepalese schoolchildren into four groups: one group received a single spot application of 38% SDF, another got 38% SDF with tannic acid as a reducing agent, a third group got 12% SDF alone, and the fourth received no SDF at all.
The researchers measured the number of arrested surfaces after six months, one year, and two years. Only the 38% SDF arrested the caries, and it worked whether or not tannic acid was included, the researchers said.
They suggested that SDF could be used with the Arresting Caries Treatment, an approach proposed for poor countries and remote areas where it isn't possible to fully restore lesions.
The researchers were from Radboud University, the United Mission to Nepal Oral Health Programme, the University of Sydney, and the Singapore National University Health System.
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