– University of Michigan
News
– A liquid brushed onto cavities in seconds may spare many young children from pain, infection, and surgery. A major U.S. trial found that silver diamine fluoride stopped decay in more than half of treated baby teeth. The treatment requires no drilling, shots, or sedation, although it does permanently darken the decayed area.
Untreated cavities send thousands of young children in the United States to emergency departments each year. Because hospital doctors usually cannot repair the underlying dental problem, some children continue to suffer from pain and infection, while others eventually need surgery under general anesthesia.
A low-cost liquid known as silver diamine fluoride, or SDF, may offer a much simpler option. Dentists apply it directly to a cavity with a small sponge-tipped applicator, a process that takes only a few seconds for each tooth. The treatment can stop decay without drilling, injections, or sedation.
Details
A Long-Used Treatment Gains Stronger Evidence
SDF has been used successfully in many countries for decades. In the United States, dentists have used it off-label since 2014, when it was approved as a medical device for reducing tooth sensitivity.
However, researchers had not yet completed the large U.S. clinical trials needed to demonstrate its safety and effectiveness as a cavity treatment. That evidence would be necessary for the Food and Drug Administration to approve SDF as a drug for treating tooth decay.
Analysis
A clinical trial led by the University of Michigan has now supplied those data.
The Phase III study, published in JAMA Pediatrics, included 830 children younger than age 6. Participants were recruited through dental offices, pediatric medical practices, Head Start and Early Head Start programs in Michigan, New York and Iowa.
SDF Stopped Decay in Many Baby Teeth
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