Evaluation of Silver Diamine Fluoride in Reduction of Plaque and Salivary Oral Bacteria in Children with Early Childhood Caries (ECC)

Despite increasing use of dental care services and available preventative products, caries continues to be a significant challenge facing youth in the United States and is the leading chronic disease of childhood.1 “Early childhood caries (ECC) is defined as the presence of one or more decayed, missing (due to caries), or filled tooth surfaces in the primary teeth of a child of 71 months of age or under.”2 This disease has become even more prevalent for minority youth such as Hispanic and non-Hispanic black populations.3,4 Data collected by Crall et al in 2005 from the 2004 NHANEs study documented approximately 60 percent of children overall will experience caries in their primary teeth by age five.5 A study in 2016 showed improvement in prevalence of dental caries in a certain age group; documenting only 18% of children 2-5 years old experiencing dental caries (Figure 1). In terms of demographics of children most affected, Figure 2 shows prevalence across different ethnicities ages 2-19 years: Hispanic 52.0%, Non-Hispanic Asian 42.6%, Non-Hispanic Black 44.3%, Non-Hispanic White 39.0%.6