Immediate (24 h) resin-dentin bond strength (MPa) · Artificial caries-affected dentin (ACAD) in extracted permanent human teeth (in vitro)
Only one in vitro study assessed a Self-Etch adhesive with the biological ACAD protocol; it was insufficient for network meta-analysis, so no pooled effect estimate is available (ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Arrest of dentine caries · Children with dentine caries in primary and permanent teeth
Professionally applied 38% silver diamine fluoride arrested about two-thirds of active dentine caries surfaces in children (pooled proportion 65.9%, 95% CI 41.2% to 90.7%; 5 studies); certainty was not GRADE-rated and heterogeneity was very high (I2=96%).
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
Oral health-related quality of life · Children with dental caries
The direct estimate found no statistically significant difference in oral health-related quality of life between placebo and silver diamine fluoride.
2 findings from 1 review
Oral health-related quality of life · Children with dental caries
The direct estimate found no statistically significant difference in oral health-related quality of life between atraumatic restorative treatment plus fluoride varnish and silver diamine fluoride plus fluoride varnish.
2 findings from 1 review
Oral health-related quality of life · Children with dental caries
The network estimate found no statistically significant difference in oral health-related quality of life between atraumatic restorative treatment and silver diamine fluoride.
2 findings from 1 review
Caries arrest · Children (age 1-10 years) with active cavitated dentin caries lesions in primary molars
A single (one-time) SDF application did not significantly arrest caries (pooled ES -0.09, 95% CI -0.48 to 0.29; ungraded).
1 finding from 1 review
Treatment success (caries lesion arrest or restoration survival) · Children (aged 3-11 y) with cavitated caries lesions in primary teeth
At 12 months, the Hall technique had significantly higher treatment success than SMART (OR 4.36; moderate certainty).
2 findings from 1 review
OR 4.36 [1.13, 16.77]
43 studies
Moderate
OR 5.61 [1.36, 23.08]
44 studies
Moderate
Treatment success (caries lesion arrest or restoration survival) · Children (aged 3-11 y) with cavitated caries lesions in primary teeth
At 12 months, the Hall technique had significantly higher treatment success than SDF (OR 3.23; moderate certainty).
2 findings from 1 review
OR 3.23 [1.13, 9.22]
43 studies
Moderate
OR 4.87 [1.23, 19.30]
44 studies
Moderate
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
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
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
new root-surface carious lesions or restorations · community-dwelling older adults with root caries
SDF had a 62% preventative fraction; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review
New coronal caries in permanent molars (caries prevention) · Children with dental caries in permanent (first) molars
NaF gave a 48% prevented fraction (fissure site) vs water (p<0.002; ungraded).
3 findings from 1 review
Prevented Fraction 48
1 study · 501 participants
GRADE not reported
Prevented Fraction 47
1 study · 141 participants
GRADE not reported
Prevented Fraction 41
1 study · 501 participants
GRADE not reported
new root-surface carious lesions or restorations · community-dwelling older adults with root caries
SDF plus potassium iodide had a 52% preventative fraction; no pooled estimate or GRADE rating was reported.
1 finding from 1 review