Caries arrestment at the individual (patient) level · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)
Pooling two trials, nano-silver fluoride achieved higher individual-level caries arrestment than SDF (OR 0.39 favoring the comparator; ungraded subgroup).
1 finding from 1 review
Caries arrestment at the tooth level · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)
SDF probably results in a slight increase in tooth-level caries arrestment versus other methods (moderate certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
Caries arrestment at the individual (patient) level · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)
Pooling two trials, SDF markedly increased individual-level caries arrestment versus placebo (OR 18.10; ungraded subgroup).
1 finding from 1 review
Caries arrestment at the surface level · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)
SDF probably makes little to no difference to surface-level caries arrestment versus other methods (moderate certainty).
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
Caries arrestment at the tooth level · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)
Pooling two trials, SDF and nano-silver fluoride showed no significant difference in tooth-level caries arrestment (OR 1.47; ungraded subgroup).
1 finding from 1 review
Caries arrestment at the tooth level · Children and adults with active dental caries (aged 1-50; mostly preschool/school children with primary dentition)
Pooling two trials, SDF and ART/glass ionomer cement showed no clear difference in tooth-level caries arrestment (OR 1.22, wide CI; ungraded subgroup).
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
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
Arrest of dentine caries · Children with active dentine caries
One trial found a single application of 12% silver diamine fluoride did not arrest dentine caries; ungraded.
1 finding from 1 review
Caries arrest · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
1 finding from 1 review
In 1 study (45 children), 4 applications of 38% SDF at 1-monthly intervals resulted in fewer surfaces with active caries compared with 2 applications at 6-monthly intervals (MD 1.04 surfaces, 95% CI 0.23 to 1.85), and…
4 studies · 1360 participants
Very low
Aesthetics · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
1 finding from 1 review
Secondary prevention of caries · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
It is very uncertain whether SDF (given at a particular frequency, concentration, or duration) changes secondary prevention of caries compared with SDF (given at a different frequency, concentration, or duration) (very low certainty).
1 finding from 1 review
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
1 study (203 children) reported that black or brown staining on treated lesions was commonly found in both groups, with little or no difference according to whether SDF treatment was given in 3 applications at…
3 studies · 1121 participants
Very low
Caries arrest · Children (age 1-10 years) with active cavitated dentin caries lesions in primary molars
SDF is effective in arresting caries progression in cavitated primary molars overall (pooled ES 0.33, 95% CI 0.26-0.40; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Immediate bond strength (MPa) · Dental adhesives/resin composite bonded to dentin (in vitro), sound or caries-affected
Prior SDF application significantly reduces the immediate bond strength of adhesives to dentin overall (MD 7.12 MPa favoring untreated dentin, 95% CI 1.38 to 12.85; ungraded), with very high heterogeneity (I2=98%).
1 finding from 1 review
Immediate bond strength (MPa) · Glass-ionomer cement bonded to dentin (in vitro), sound or caries-affected
Prior SDF application does not influence the immediate bond strength of glass-ionomer cement to dentin (MD -0.11 MPa, 95% CI -0.54 to 0.31; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Caries arrest · Children (age 1-10 years) with active cavitated dentin caries lesions in primary molars
The pooled caries arrest rate with SDF (>=30%, applied annually/biannually) was 51.62% (622/1205 lesions arrested) at >=12 months follow-up.
1 finding from 1 review