From Lab to Life: Stop Cavities Without Drilling

Tooth decay is the most common chronic disease among children and affects more than 40% of children in the United States. Cavities that are not treated can lead to intense pain, infections, difficulty sleeping or eating, missed school days and repeated medical appointments.

What if scientists could find a way to prevent ALL tooth decay and all cavities, without need for a trip to the dentist’s drill?

Perhaps they have.

Science Daily, July 29, reports on new research from the University of Michigan that recounts:   “The researchers found that 38% SDF stopped tooth decay in more than half of the affected baby teeth when the treatment was applied every six months.   A liquid [silver diamine fluoride] brushed onto cavities in seconds may spare many young children from pain, infection, and surgery. A major U.S. trial found that silver diamine fluoride stopped decay in more than half of treated baby teeth. The treatment requires no drilling, shots, or sedation, although it does permanently darken the decayed area.”

** Margherita Fontana, Amr Moursi, Carlos Gonzalez-Cabezas, Divya Khera, Steven M. Levy, George J. Eckert, Barry P. Katz, Livia M. A. Tenuta, Marcia S. Campos, Elisabeta Karl, James Boynton, Courtney Chinn, Alex Sheen, Justine Kolker, John Warren, Emily Thorpe. Efficacy of Silver Diamine Fluoride on Young Children With Severe Early Childhood Caries. JAMA Pediatrics, 2026; DOI: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2026.2567

Science Daily reports: “Untreated cavities send thousands of young children in the United States to emergency departments each year. Because hospital doctors usually cannot repair the underlying dental problem, some children continue to suffer from pain and infection, while others eventually need surgery under general anasthesia.  … Researchers have shown that a quick, inexpensive liquid can stop many childhood cavities without drilling or anesthesia.”

“SDF, silver diamine fluoride, may offer a much simpler option. Dentists apply it directly to a cavity with a small sponge-tipped applicator, a process that takes only a few seconds for each tooth. The treatment can stop decay without drilling, injections, or sedation.”

SDF is not new!  “SDF has been used successfully in many countries for decades. In the United States, dentists have used it off-label since 2014, when it was approved as a medical device for reducing tooth sensitivity.  However, researchers had not yet completed the large U.S. clinical trials needed to demonstrate its safety and effectiveness as a cavity treatment. That evidence would be necessary for the Food and Drug Administration to approve SDF as a drug for treating tooth decay.”  A clinical trial led by the University of Michigan has now supplied those data.

Why the long delay?  Perhaps because Big Pharma does not see big bucks in SDF, and perhaps dentists see some of their livelihood fly out the clinical window.