Primary caries prevention · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Dental pain or sensitivity · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Adverse effects · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
1 finding from 1 review
In 1 study, 115 of 118 children had black stains on teeth treated with SDF; there were no other adverse effects or allergic reactions. In 1 study, the rate of adverse effects reported by caregiver and person who…
3 studies · 482 participants
Very low
Aesthetics · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
1 finding from 1 review
1 study reported that 45% of parents were satisfied with appearance of their child's teeth; data not reported by study group. 1 study reported that 1 of 34 caregivers in SDF group were "annoyed with teeth appearance",…
2 studies · 248 participants
Very low
Secondary prevention of caries · children with deep occlusal carious lesions in permanent molars
No significant difference in secondary caries prevention was reported; no effect estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Adverse effects (tooth staining and other side effects) · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)
SDF commonly causes black staining of arrested lesions; only mild, transient adverse events were reported, with no major adverse events (ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Secondary prevention of caries · children with deep occlusal carious lesions in permanent molars
No significant difference in secondary caries prevention was reported; no effect estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Aesthetics · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Adverse effects · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
1 finding from 1 review
Ruff 2022 reported that there were no adverse events during the study period; adverse events were not defined by the study authors. Assumed data available for 1398 participants.
1 study · 1398 participants
Very low
new active or inactive carious lesions · Children with dental caries in permanent (first) molars
SDF had a 72% preventative fraction; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
new carious lesions or fillings at tooth level · children with caries in permanent molars
SDF had a 41% preventative fraction at tooth level; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
new carious lesions or fillings · Children with dental caries in permanent (first) molars
SDF had a 57% preventative fraction; the comparator was not reported.
1 finding from 1 review
new carious lesions or fillings at fissure-site level · children with caries in permanent molars
SDF had a 52% preventative fraction at fissure-site level; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Oral health-related quality of life · Children with dental caries
SDF had no significant effect on oral health-related quality of life versus pooled standard-of-care caries treatments (SMD -0.06, 95% CI -0.20 to 0.08; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Restoration color, marginal staining and luster (esthetics) · Children with deep occlusal caries in young permanent first molars (indirect pulp capping)
RMGIC gave significantly better restoration esthetics than SDF, which caused black staining (p=0.03; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Baraka et al. (2022): significant differences in restoration color, marginal staining and luster favoring RMGIC over both SDF groups (p=0.03); SDF caused black staining that darkened over time.
1 study · 49 participants
GRADE not reported
Aesthetics · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
It is very uncertain whether silver diamine fluoride (SDF) changes aesthetics compared with fluoride varnish (very low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Adverse effects · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
1 finding from 1 review
Adverse effects · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
1 finding from 1 review
In 1 study, people complained about a transient bitter taste associated with SDF (with no associated data), with no other adverse effects. In another study, there were no adverse effects. No studies reported this…
2 studies · 336 participants
Very low
Aesthetics · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
1 finding from 1 review
Aesthetics · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
1 finding from 1 review
Cleary 2022 reported no significant differences (P > 0.05) in parental acceptability, satisfaction, and preference between treatments at 6 and 12 months; at 12 months children in the restoration arm felt happier with…
1 study
Very low