of the best pieces of health news in the past decade<\/a>\u2014is a liquid medication that is applied directly to children\u2019s cavities. SDF does not replace the lost tooth structure, rather, it stops the progression of the cavity and any associated pain.<\/p>\nUConn has used this method to avoid or delay the necessity of more invasive treatment or treatment under general anesthesia.<\/p>\n
\u201cUConn\u2019s pediatric dental clinic has successfully used this method since 2016,\u201d said Drs. Bina Katechia and Gary Schulman, faculty at the UConn School of Dental Medicine. \u201cWe have been treating some cavities with SDF rather than filling affected teeth. SDF is a \u2018tool in our toolbox\u2019 for managing decay when conventional treatment cannot be tolerated by young children or those with special health care needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cavities, also known as dental caries or dental decay, are common and potentially severe.\u00a0 In 2017, a Connecticut Department of Public Health Survey of kindergarten and third grade children found that 16% of those surveyed had untreated decay, with dental decay continuing to be a public health problem for Connecticut elementary school children.<\/p>\n
Dental cavities can lead to problems with eating, sleeping, daily activities and self-esteem.\u00a0 Traditional treatment of cavities ranges from fillings to extractions, with some fillings able to be performed with minimal intervention, requiring no anesthesia and limited drilling.\u00a0 Cavities also can be severe and many young, anxious or medically compromised patients may have a harder time cooperating for dental procedures.<\/p>\n
Silver compounds were previously used to fight infections before antibiotics.\u00a0 In 1969, a Japanese study introduced SDF as an antimicrobial technique to fight dental cavities. Since that first study, many studies have followed to document the benefits of SDF. In 2016, the FDA approved the use of SDF.<\/p>\n
SDF, in particular, has shown to stop the cavity from progressing and causing sensitivity in addition to killing certain bacteria in the cavity and inhibiting bacteria that may attack other teeth in the mouth.<\/p>\n
At UConn, providers follow a specific and careful protocol to apply SDF.\u00a0 Patients are screened as candidates for the treatment based on their medical history, risk of cavities, ability to cooperate for dental treatment and parental consent.<\/p>\n
When SDF is recommended for treatment at UConn, its advantages and disadvantages are reviewed with patients and their parents.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe advantages include easy and quick application. Pediatric dental providers typically apply the SDF liquid on decayed teeth and neither local anesthesia nor drilling is necessary because affected tooth structure does not need to be removed.\u00a0 This is especially helpful for anxious patients who may become uncooperative with standard treatment that involves local anesthesia and drilling,\u201d said Katechia and Schulman.<\/p>\n
The downsides of this treatment are minimal. While the treatment is completely safe for use, there is a slight chance that the treatment can stain the teeth and tissue as SDF blackens the cavities and other decayed parts of the teeth. Healthy teeth, however, should not get stained.<\/p>\n
SDF can also inadvertently stain the soft tissue in the mouth, lips, or cheeks which last for a few days. Providers are cautious about covering the patient\u2019s clothing and applying petroleum jelly to the surrounding tissues.<\/p>\n
Lastly, this treatment does not change the structure, so further restorations may be required to finish healing the tooth structure.<\/p>\n
The pediatric dental clinic at UConn will continue to use and study SDF. Today, additional applications are being considered.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs evidenced by the use of SDF, UConn is dedicated to the development and refinement of the most current techniques,\u201d said Katechia and Schulman.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Reference List<\/p>\n
Peters S. The Best Health News Over the Last Decade. https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/money\/2019\/12\/18\/the-best-health-news-over-the-last-decade\/40796061\/.<\/p>\n
Health CD of. Every Smile Counts<\/em>. Hartford; 2017.<\/p>\nFrencken JE, Holmgren C, van Palestein Helderman W. Basic Package of Oral Care<\/em>.; 2002.<\/p>\nLiu A, Donly K. The use of silver diamine fluoride for caries arrest in children. Dental Economics. https:\/\/www.dentaleconomics.com\/science-tech\/pediatric-dentistry\/article\/14037011\/the-use-of-silver-diamine-fluoride-for-caries-arrest-in-children. Published 2019.<\/p>\n
Politano AD, Campbell KT, Rosenberger LH, Sawyer RG. Use of silver in the prevention and treatment of infections: Silver review. Surg Infect (Larchmt)<\/em>. 2013. doi:10.1089\/sur.2011.097<\/p>\nNishino M, Yoshida S, Sobue S, Kato J, Nishida M. Effect of topically applied ammoniacal silver fluoride on dental caries in children. J Osaka Univ Dent Sch<\/em>. 1969.<\/p>\nDos Santos VE, De Vasconcelos FMN, Ribeiro AG, Rosenblatt A. Paradigm shift in the effective treatment of caries in schoolchildren at risk. Int Dent J<\/em>. 2012. doi:10.1111\/j.1875-595X.2011.00088.x<\/p>\nGao SS, Zhang S, Mei ML, Lo ECM, Chu CH. Caries remineralisation and arresting effect in children by professionally applied fluoride treatment – a systematic review. BMC Oral Health<\/em>. 2016. doi:10.1186\/s12903-016-0171-6<\/p>\nRosenblatt A, Stamford TCM, Niederman R. Silver diamine fluoride: A caries \u201csilver-fluoride bullet.\u201d J Dent Res<\/em>. 2009. doi:10.1177\/0022034508329406<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thanks to a revolutionary treatment\u2014silver diamine fluoride (SDF)\u2014 UConn has changed the way it approaches the treatment of certain cavities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":158155,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2166],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2177],"class_list":["post-158133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sdm"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 23:46:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/158155"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158133"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=158133"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=158133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}