Silver diamine fluoride (SDF; 30% or 38%) vs No treatment or another non-invasive/minimally-invasive treatment (ART, sodium fluoride or silver-based varnish, or 12% SDF): Caries arrest
- Population
- Children (age 1-10 years) with active cavitated dentin caries lesions in primary molars
- Intervention
- Silver diamine fluoride (SDF; 30% or 38%)
- Comparison
- No treatment or another non-invasive/minimally-invasive treatment (ART, sodium fluoride or silver-based varnish, or 12% SDF)
- Outcome
- Caries arrest
SDF is effective in arresting caries progression in cavitated primary molars overall (pooled ES 0.33, 95% CI 0.26-0.40; ungraded).
What each review found
Current versions only| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Silver diamine fluoride (SDF; 38% or 30%), applied at any frequency vs No treatment or another non-invasive/minimally-invasive treatment (ART, sodium fluoride or silver-based varnish, or 12% SDF) Caries arrest · Children (age 1-10 years) with active cavitated dentin caries lesions in primary molars · Pooled across follow-up evaluations (1-36 months), Pediatric dental care in hospital, community/school and outpatient settings (Saudi Arabia, China, India, Brazil, Spain) SDF is effective in arresting caries progression in cavitated primary molars overall (pooled ES 0.33, 95% CI 0.26-0.40; ungraded). Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) Efficacy in Arresting Cavitated Caries Lesions in Primary Molars: A Systematic… (2022) All outcomes | ES 0.33 [0.26, 0.40] | 5 studies · 1386 participants | GRADE not reported |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) Efficacy in Arresting Cavitated Caries Lesions in Primary Molars: A Systematic Review and Metanalysis. 2022 All outcomes | 10 January 2022 (databases searched from inception to 10 January 2022) | 16 | Critically Low / Critically Low |
Related questions
The same intervention and outcome, asked in another population or against another comparator.
- Silver diamine fluoride (SDF; 30% or 38%) vs Atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) · Children (age 1-10 years) with active cavitated dentin caries lesions in primary molars · 1 review
Studies behind the findings
The primary studies the full-text reviews tie to this outcome. Reviews with headline outcomes only do not list them here.
- Caries arrest effectiveness of silver diamine fluoride compared to alternative restorative technique: randomized clinical trial · 2021 · included by 1 of these review
- A randomized clinical trial to arrest dentin caries in young children using silver diamine fluoride · 2020 · included by 1 of these review
- Efficacy of 30% silver diamine fluoride compared to atraumatic restorative treatment on dentine caries arrestment in primary molars of… · 2019 · included by 1 of these review
- Randomized Clinical Trial of 12% and 38% Silver Diamine Fluoride Treatment. · 2018 · included by 1 of these review
- Anti-erosive effect of calcium carbonate suspensions. · 2018 · included by 1 of these review
How reviews are matched to this question
Reviews word the same question differently. Four decision models (TypeSafe's Jev, Liquid AI's d1-ultra, SubQ Snap and Baseten's Elephant) judged each wording of the population, intervention, comparator and outcome against the others; two wordings count as the same when at least three of them agree and none clearly disagrees, and findings count as this question only when all four elements match. Timing, setting and subgroup never split a question: they are shown on each finding.