Assessing the Effects and Acceptance of Silver Diamine Fluoride Treatment in Early Childhood Caries.

Abstract

Early childhood caries (ECC) is a widespread dental problem that impacts children below the age of six years. Traditional restorative treatments like fillings are often challenging and invasive for young children. Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) offers a minimally invasive and cost-effective alternative for managing ECC. However, theeffects, acceptance, and understanding of this treatment by parents remain crucial for its successful implementation. To evaluate the impact and level of acceptance of SDF treatment in ECC. Thirty-two children from an Anganwadi centeraged between two to five yearssuffering from ECC were selected. A 38% SDF was applied for 3 minutes on the identified carious lesion, and the arrest percentage was checked after a recall period of three weeks and three months. The Likert scale was used for the questionnaire regardingparental feedback about the ease of application procedure, tooth discoloration, possible pain associated with the procedure, andthe taste of SDF. In the present study, a total of 75 surfaces were subjected to the application of SDF. After a period of three weeks, it was observed that 64 of these surfaces had successfully undergone the process of caries arrest. This finding was deemed to be statistically significant, with a P value of 0.021. Furthermore, the remaining surfaces that had not achieved caries arrest were subsequently treated atthree months. The results of this subsequent treatment were also found to be statistically significant, with a P value of 0.027. These findings highlight the efficacy of both caries treatment and caries arrest in relation to the utilization of SDF. SDF was found to be minimally invasive, easy to administer, inexpensive, highly efficient, and effective treatment in arresting caries in the primary dentition of young children, particularly in patients lacking cooperation.