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
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