A COMPARISON OF THE ANTIMICROBIAL EFFICACY OF SILVER DIAMINE FLUORIDE AND SILVER NITRATE: AN IN VITRO STUDY
By: Nicholas L Luke, D.D.S.
A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Dentistry at Virginia Commonwealth University.
Virginia Commonwealth University, May 2018
Thesis Advisor: William O. Dahlke Jr., D.M.D.
Pediatric Dentistry, Department Chair
Purpose: To determine the antimicrobial efficacy of SDF and SN/NaF.
Methods: Three bacterial species were combined to create an in vitro biofilm. Treatment was completed with SN, SN/NaF, SDF, SDF½ or untreated (control).
Results: The untreated group demonstrated significantly higher growth than all other treatment groups across the study. On the BHI-plates (1-day), there were significant differences between all treatments except SDF and SDF½. On the BHI-plates (3-days), SN/NaF was not significantly different from SDF or SDF½. On the L-MRS-plates (1-day), both SN treatment groups yielded significantly higher growth than the SDF groups. On the L-MRS-plates (3-days), SN yielded significantly higher growth than SN/NaF, SDF, and SDF½.
Conclusion: SDF is more effective than SN/NaF, with the exception of BHI-plates (3-days) only and SN/NaF is more effective than SN on primarily S. mutans and L. acidophilus. There is evidence of a possible antimicrobial tolerance of oral bacteria to silver
