A six month clinical evaluation of Silver Diamine Fluoride and Atraumatic Restorative Treatment for treating dental caries.

Silver Diamine Fluoride(SDF) has been popularised for its ability to stop dental caries formation and concurrently arrest caries progression.This approach does not require caries excavation using instruments, in addition  silver has many antimicrobial properties and fluoride which helps in remineralisation. The Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) is a pain free, minimal intervention approach where only hand instruments are used to remove carious tooth substance before the cavity is restored and any adjacent enamel fissures are sealed with conventional , self-hardening Glass Ionomer Cement(GIC).Thus WHO recommends ART as the treatment option for dental caries in areas with limited access to dental care.

Hence, this study is being conducted to evaluate if SDF can be used as an effective caries restoration option in school children as opposed to ART, as it removes the use of hand instruments used in ART for caries excavation. Therefore it can be used in children with anxiety for dental treatments and also be done by trained auxillaries instead of dentists in rural areas.