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Hindi Review Article
Arresting Early Childhood Caries with Silver Diamine Fluoride-A Literature Review
Marcus HT Fung, May CM Wong, Edward CM Lo and CH Chu*
Department of Dentistry, The University of Hong Kong, 1B30, Prince Philip Dental Hospital, 34 Hospital Road, Hong Kong SAR
- *Corresponding Author:
- CH Chu
Department of Dentistry
The University of Hong Kong
1B30, Prince Philip Dental Hospital
34 Hospital Road, Hong Kong SAR
Tel: +852 2859 0287
Fax: +852 2858 2532
E-mail: chchu@hku.hk
Received Date: November 08, 2013; Accepted Date: December 17, 2013; Published Date: December 24, 2013
Citation: Fung MHT, Wong MCM, Lo ECM, Chu CH (2013) Arresting Early Childhood Caries with Silver Diamine Fluoride-A Literature Review. J Oral Hyg Health 1:117. doi: 10.4172/2332-0702.1000117
Copyright: © 2013 Fung MHT, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Conventional restorative management of early childhood caries (ECC) is unlikely to tackle this prevalent disease, and arresting caries treatment using silver diamine fluoride (SDF) has become a pragmatic strategy, particularly for young and apprehensive children. Arrested caries is clinically characterized by its increase in hardness and a dark brown to black coloration. Subsequent restorative procedures can be carried out if necessary. This review article discusses the rationale of arresting caries treatment, mechanism of action of SDF, and safety and complications of SDF treatment. A literature search using PubMed was performed to review the clinical trials using SDF to manage ECC. Results found 6 clinical trials published in English since 1980. The studies suggested that one-off application of 12% SDF is not effective in arresting caries in children, but 38% SDF is. The main disadvantage of SDF treatment is black staining of the arrested lesion, but significant complications were not reported. In general, the studies concluded that topical application of SDF is a simple and low cost method to arrest ECC. This treatment strategy therefore increases access for children in developing countries to receive affordable dental treatment.
