How do you use sodium diamine fluoride?

Dip brush into SDF and dab on the side of the plastic dappen dish to remove excess liquid before application. Apply SDF directly to only the affected tooth surface. Remove excess SDF with gauze, cotton roll, or cotton pellet to minimize systemic absorption. Application time should be at least one minute if possible.

How often should silver diamine fluoride be applied?

Frequency of Application for Best Results:

Silver diamine fluoride, when applied correctly, should be effective after a single application. However, multiple applications are likely to be more effective. For maximum caries-arresting benefit, SDF should be reapplied at six-month intervals for two years.

What does silver diamine fluoride do?

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is applied directly to cavities to instantly stop the process of decay—for less than a dollar per treatment. Other topical fluorides, including toothpaste and professionally-applied varnish, primarily aim to prevent future tooth decay.

How effective is silver diamine fluoride?

A systematic review of 7 studies indicated that SDF, at concentrations of 30% and 38%, is more effective than other preventive management strategies for arresting dentinal caries in the primary dentition.

How long does silver diamine fluoride last?

Typically, the SDF treatment be effective for 3-12 months at least, after which time it will be re-applied to ensure the cavity does not get bigger.

Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) Application: Evidence-Based Recommendations

How long does it take for SDF to work?

The tooth may be sensitive when dried and during SDF application. The cavity will darken to nearly black permanently within seconds unless you choose to restore or fill the area in the future. SDF may cause short-term irritation of the gums and may temporarily stain lips, cheeks or gums, usually fading in 2-3 weeks.

Do you rinse silver diamine fluoride?

Saturate the lesion or high-risk surface with SDF using a microbrush and allow absorption of SDF by capillary action for at least 1 minute. Do not rinse, light-cure, or blow compressed air while the SDF is being absorbed.

Does silver diamine fluoride turn teeth black?

Educate your patients.

Silver diamine fluoride will stain carious tooth structure a dark brown or black color. Caution should be used on other tooth surfaces and near the margins of composite restorations or crowns. Explain the risks of discoloration to tooth structure before application.

Can adults use silver diamine fluoride?

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF): Dental caries in older adult patients. Silver diamine fluoride is a cost-effective treatment for arresting and preventing caries in older adults.

Does silver diamine fluoride fade on teeth?

SDF will discolor teeth if there is a breakdown in tooth structure. 14.

How does fluoride work?

When your saliva has fluoride in it from sources like toothpaste or water, your teeth are able to take it in. Once in your enamel, fluoride teams up with calcium and phosphate there to create the most powerful defense system your teeth can have to prevent cavities from forming: fluoroapatite.

How do you remove silver diamine fluoride stains from teeth?

If any material gets onto your dental light, tray area, or countertop, it will also stain these surfaces. If you catch it before it dries, ammonia-based cleaners such as disinfecting wipes will usually do the trick to remove the stains.

Can you eat after SDF treatment?

After SDF is placed, your child should not eat or drink for 60 minutes or have their teeth brushed until the next morning. Treatment with SDF does not stop the need for dental fillings or crowns to fix function or aesthetics.

What does fluoride from the dentist do?

Fluoride helps prevent tooth decay by making the tooth more resistant to acid attacks from plaque bacteria and sugars in the mouth. It also reverses early decay.

How do you get fluoride off your lips?

The product is very sticky, so avoid touching the lips or face with the brush. A quick wipe of the lips with petrolatum or lip balm prior to treatment is helpful. If varnish gets on the face or lips, try rubbing lightly with a 2 x 2 gauze soaked with alcohol-based mouthwash.

Does SDF always stain teeth?

Healthy tooth structure will not stain. Stained tooth structure MAY be able to be covered when appropriate at a later time with a filling or crown. If SDF touches the gums or skin, a temporary brown stain may appear that cannot typically be washed off.

Does SDF stain other teeth?

Gums and other parts of the mouth can get stained as well, although these stains will eventually go away, unlike the stains on your teeth. SDF can also temporarily stain skin and clothes that come in contact with the solution.

How much fluoride is in SDF?

SDF is a colorless liquid with a pH of 10, 24.4-28.8% (253, 870 ppm) volume of silver, 5.0-5.9% fluoride (44,800 ppm), and ammonia7,9. This alkaline solution has been shown to aid in the formation of covalent bonds of phosphate groups onto proteins and crystallites to grow10.

Will fluoride reverse tooth decay?

Use fluoride

Fluoride is a mineral that can prevent tooth decay from progressing. It can even reverse, or stop, early tooth decay.

Does fluoride stick to your teeth?

She found that the fluoride sticks firmly to several calcium ions near the surface of the tooth, anchoring them together and cutting down the rate at which the tooth is worn away. "This provides good evidence for a specific mechanism for how the surface fluoride works.

Does SDF help with sensitivity?

SDF is a fast, low-cost, no-needle, no-drill alternative to treating cavities. SDF can also be used to treat sensitivity.

Is SDF a varnish?

Fluoride varnish and SDF are both non-invasive and painless treatment options for caries management. While fluoride varnish and SDF are primarily indicated for tooth hypersensitivity, both are also commonly used off-label to manage carious lesions at different stages in their development process.

Is silver diamine fluoride the same as fluoride?

SDF received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2014 as a device for treating dental hypersensitivity. Similar to its predecessor fluoride varnish, SDF has not been approved as a dental caries arrest medicament and is administered in children and adults as an off-label use.