Effectiveness of silver diamine fluoride and glass ionomer cement combined with fluoride varnish in arresting dental caries among intellectually disabled individuals: A randomized controlled trial.

AIM: To assess the clinical effectiveness of 38% silver diamine fluoride (SDF) in arresting dental caries when compared to combination of fluoride-containing glass ionomer cement (GIC) and fluoride varnish(FV) (5%) among intellectually disabled (ID) individuals. METHODOLOGY: A randomized controlled trial was conducted among ID (n = 82) individuals, in permanent posterior teeth with Nyvad score 2 and 3 (active caries) of dental caries, randomly allocated to experimental arm (38% SDF) (n = 41) and control arm (GIC along with FV) (n = 41). The caries arrest rate and caries preventive fraction was observed at 6-months among both groups. RESULTS: The caries arrest rate was 94.5% with SDF and 90.1% with GIC and FV (p = 0.405).The caries preventive fraction of SDF over GIC with FV was 45%, with hazard ratio (-0.588) at 6 months (p = 0.292). The binary logistic regression revealed that the Odds of arresting caries in SDF group is two times when compared to GIC group with p value = 0.218 which is not significant. CONCLUSION: The present study concluded that the SDF is as clinically effective as combination of GIC and fluoride varnish in arresting caries. Further research and longer follow-up required for more conclusive results.