That’s the premise of silver diamine fluoride (SDF), a liquid that’s painted over cavities and essentially stops tooth decay in its tracks. It kills off bacteria, while strengthening the remaining parts of the tooth.<\/p>\n
While SDF isn’t new, it hasn’t yet been granted FDA approval for use by dentists on kids in the US \u2013 something that may be about to change after a successful clinical trial<\/a> involving 830 children under the age of 6, who all had severe cavities.<\/p>\n Run by researchers from institutions across the US, the trial results have now been published in JAMA Pediatrics<\/a>. <\/p>\n “If we want more children and families to benefit from this treatment, we need rigorous evidence showing both that it works and that it’s safe,” says<\/a> Margherita Fontana, a dentistry researcher at the University of Michigan.<\/p>\n Six months after one SDF application, tooth decay was stopped in more than half of the children’s baby teeth that were treated.<\/p>\n “From a public health perspective, if we want broader implementation across the United States, including in medical settings, we need carefully collected data in US populations, and we now have that,” explains<\/a> Fontana.<\/p>\n The study got underway in 2018, and covered three sites in the US. SDF was put up against a placebo treatment<\/a> \u2013 with SDF arresting tooth decay in 54 percent of cavities, compared to 22.5 percent for placebo<\/a>, at follow-up six months post-treatment. <\/p>\n “This is a very effective and safe treatment \u2013 even in children as young as one.” \u2013 dentistry researcher Margherita Fontana<\/p>\n There were no differences in tooth pain<\/a> between the groups, and mostly mild\u2013moderate side effects that may not have been directly linked (including sore throats).<\/p>\n The treatment only takes about 10 seconds to apply, with perhaps the biggest drawback being that it covers the affected tooth with a permanent dark stain.<\/p>\n “For almost anyone, this can arrest the decay and stop the infection and the pain it causes,” says<\/a> Fontana. <\/p>\n “This could benefit many people.”<\/p>\n The treatment has been FDA-cleared for off-label use for treating tooth sensitivity in adults in the US, but there’s a higher safety bar for children. <\/p>\n While the results of the trial don’t guarantee regulatory approval, it’s strong evidence in favor of SDF.<\/p>\n “This is a very effective and safe treatment \u2013 even in children as young as one,” says<\/a> Fontana. <\/p>\n There is another reason the team wants SDF to become more widely available for treating childhood decay: to help address the lack of access to dental care in our most vulnerable populations. <\/p>\n The researchers note<\/a> in their paper that “many children \u2013 especially those in underserved communities \u2013 have limited access to dental care, but more frequent interactions with medical professionals.” <\/p>\n Because SDF is quick and noninvasive, they suggest it may be feasible to use in primary-care settings as well as dental clinics. But that would require clinicians to be trained to identify suitable cavities and to have clear pathways for referring children to dentists.<\/p>\n “In medicine, clinicians want high-quality evidence before changing practice,” says<\/a> Fontana. <\/p>\n “It is important to have data they can refer to because young children often see pediatricians years before they ever visit a dentist.”<\/p>\n The trial only tested SDF on baby teeth in children aged 1 to 6. So it cannot tell us whether SDF should replace fillings or other restorative treatment for cavities in permanent adult teeth.<\/p>\n “Our results support FDA approval of SDF for managing arrest of tooth decay in young children,” says<\/a> Amr Moursi, a pediatric dentistry researcher at New York University.<\/p>\n “Removing SDF from off-label status would be an important innovation which could lead to increased utilization by providers, enhanced payments by insurers, and more consistent product quality.”<\/p>\n The stats on tooth decay in the US<\/a> don’t make for particularly good reading. More than 1 in 10 kids aged 2\u20135 have at least one cavity in their baby teeth, while for ages 6\u20138 that increases to almost 1 in 5 children.<\/p>\n Severe early childhood caries can cause pain, infection, and tooth loss, and affect nutrition and quality of life. For some children with severe decay, conventional treatments<\/a> can require general anesthesia, and the researchers note that waits for hospital-based dental procedures can be prolonged. <\/p>\n A treatment capable of arresting some cavities quickly and without drilling could therefore be especially useful while children move through the dental-care system.<\/p>\n Related: This New Treatment Could Heal Tooth Cavities Without Any Fillings<\/a><\/p>\n “Broader acceptance could allow many more cavities to be treated while a referral to a dental home is successful, and before they become painful, infected, or require surgery,” explains<\/a> Fontana.<\/p>\n The research has been published in JAMA Pediatrics<\/a>.<\/p>\n This article was fact-checked by Rachel Garner<\/a> and edited by Rebecca Dyer<\/a>. While we pride ourselves on our process, we are only human. If you spot a mistake, please let us know<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heading to the dentist for work on cavities isn’t the most pleasant childhood experience \u2013 even if it’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":855641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,84,315],"class_list":["post-855640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-msft-content"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=855640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/855640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/855641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=855640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=855640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=855640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"YouTube](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1786559667_963_0.jpg\")
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SDF significantly outperformed a placebo treatment in the trial. (Fontana et al., JAMA Pediatr., 2026)<\/p>\n![\"Subscribe](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/FOMO-1200x628-_Dont-miss-the-next-breakthrough_-cosmic-colourful-642x336.jpg\")
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