Patient discomfort during treatment (anxiety scale) · Children (age 1-10 years) with active cavitated dentin caries lesions in primary molars
One study found no significant difference in patient discomfort between SDF and ART (p = 0.15; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Dental pain or sensitivity · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
It is very uncertain whether silver diamine fluoride (SDF) changes dental pain or sensitivity compared with atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) with glass ionomer cement… (very low certainty).
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
Secondary prevention of caries · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
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
Caries arrest · Children and adults (with or without carious lesions)
The review found no eligible studies for this question.
2 findings from 1 review
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
Caries/restoration status in permanent molars · Children with dental caries in permanent (first) molars
SDF gave significantly better caries/restoration outcomes than ART over 9 months in children's permanent molars (p=0.004; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Satyarup et al. (2022): 38% SDF vs ART; SDF group 5.6% carious teeth with partly lost restorations vs ART 16.7% carious with partly lost and 8.9% carious with completely lost restorations (p=0.004, favoring SDF).
1 study · 190 participants
GRADE not reported
restoration and caries status · children with caries in permanent molars
The review reported SDF was beneficial for arresting caries; no effect estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
Oral health-related quality of life · Children with dental caries
SDF did not significantly differ from atraumatic restorative treatment for oral health-related quality of life (MD 0.02, 95% CI -0.32 to 0.36; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Coronal carious lesions arrest · Children with coronal carious lesions (primary dentition)
One review reported a risk ratio of 1.66 favouring SDF over fluoride varnish or ART for arresting coronal caries in primary teeth (no CI; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
RR 1.66
2 studies
GRADE not reported
Caries arrest · Children (age 1-10 years) with active cavitated dentin caries lesions in primary molars
SDF was not significantly better than ART at arresting caries (pooled ES 0.05, 95% CI -0.42 to 0.51; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Oral health-related quality of life · Children with dental caries
SDF plus fluoride varnish did not significantly differ from ART plus fluoride varnish for oral health-related quality of life (MD 0.16, 95% CI -0.1 to 0.42; ungraded).
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)
In one trial, SDF greatly increased individual-level caries arrestment versus ART/glass ionomer cement (OR 18.03); this subgroup was not separately GRADE-rated.
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