Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) vs Control (placebo/no treatment or other topical fluoride agents): Prevention of new caries (caries development/increment)
- Population
- Preschool children (primary dentition) at risk of new caries
- Intervention
- Silver diamine fluoride (SDF)
- Comparison
- Control (placebo/no treatment or other topical fluoride agents)
- Outcome
- Prevention of new caries (caries development/increment)
Limited evidence from two trials suggests SDF may help prevent new caries, but preventive efficacy was not meta-analyzed and remains uncertain (ungraded).
What each review found
Include earlier review versions| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Silver diamine fluoride (topical application) vs Control (placebo/no treatment or other topical fluoride agents) Prevention of new caries (caries development/increment) · Preschool children (primary dentition) at risk of new caries · 6 to 18 months, Children/adults with dental caries; multiple countries; community/clinic care setting not clearly specified Limited evidence from two trials suggests SDF may help prevent new caries, but preventive efficacy was not meta-analyzed and remains uncertain (ungraded). The role of silver diamine fluoride as dental caries preventive and arresting agent: a systematic review and… (2024) All outcomes | Narrative (2 RCTs; not meta-analyzed): Zheng 2023 reported mean decayed surfaces (ds) reduced from 0.7+/-1.9 to 0.4+/-1.5; Sirivichayakul 2023 reported a caries development rate of 27.2%. | 2 studies | GRADE not reported |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| The role of silver diamine fluoride as dental caries preventive and arresting agent: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2024 All outcomes | Not specified (publication window 2014-2024; references accessed July 2024) | 20 | Critically Low / Critically Low |
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 Prevention Using Silver Diamine Fluoride: A 12-Month Clinical Trial. · 2023 · included by 1 of these review
- The effectiveness of topical fluoride agents on preventing development of approximal caries in primary teeth: a randomized clinical trial. · 2023 · 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.