A New “Silver-Bullet” to treat caries in children – Nano Silver Fluoride: A randomised clinical trial

AbstractBackgroundUntreated dental caries in children remains a public health challenge in poor communities.ObjectivesThis prospective controlled clinical trial investigated the effectiveness of a new anti-caries agent, Nano Silver Fluoride (NSF), applied once a year to arrest caries in children.MethodsOne hundred thirty decayed primary teeth were randomly divided into two groups: NSF as the experimental agent and water as the control group. Teeth were clinically diagnosed and treated by one masked examiner and followed up at seven days and five and 12 months by another calibrated examiner who was blinded to the type of treatment. The criteria of the ICDAS II were followed to determine the activity of lesion and the diagnosis of caries. The Pearson's chi-square test was used to compare the groups during different follow-up exams.ResultsAt seven days, 81% of teeth in the NSF group exhibited arrested caries, whereas in controls, no teeth had arrested decay (p<0.001) [PF, prevented fraction=81%]. After five months, the NSF group had 72.7% with arrested decay, and the control group had 27.4% (p