Silver diamine fluoride and its clinical application: a new approach To caries prophylaxis

Dental Caries is a common chronic disease and a serious public health problem which affects children
growth and well being. Economical issues for restorative treatment and poor access to oral health care
affects more of children from low socioeconomic area and are affected by untreated caries so
Arresting Caries Treatment (ACT) is proposed to treat untreated dental caries in children of this strata
of the community. Many biocompatible chemical agents have been used in experiments or in ex-vivo
studies to prevent caries. Antimicrobial agents containing Silver (Ag), regarded as bioactive agent is
used for arresting dentinal caries. Some topical fluoride agents like sodium fluoride and Silver
diamine fluoride(SDF) have a pragmatic strategy for arresting caries, particularly in young and
apprehensive children. A thorough literature review states that SDF is a safe, nontoxic and effective
caries-preventive agent. Although, there are reports suggesting the efficacy of 38% SDF agent in
arresting caries in the deciduous dentition. Some laboratory investigations have concluded that SDF
has potent antibacterial action on biofilm, and obstructs caries progression process. Furthermore,
SDF application is simple and an affordable in developing countries. Medline, PubMed, Ebsco and
Google scholar databases, are the primary sources of review research.