The effect of silver diamine fluoride on the bond strength of glass ionomer to the enamel of primary teeth

BACKGROUND: Dental caries is a disease which is caused by the acidic by-products of the metabolic processes of dental plaque. Silver components are one of the clinical solutions to prevent caries. This study aimed to investigate the effect of silver diamine fluoride (SDF) application on the shear bond strength of glass ionomer to primary teeth enamel. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this in vitro study, a total of 48 anterior sound primary teeth were randomly divided into four groups (n = 12). The control group (G1) consisted of healthy primary teeth, and the three experimental groups (G2–G4) were composed of demineralized primary teeth. The second group did not undergo SDF treatment, the third group underwent SDF treatment, and the fourth group underwent SDF treatment plus polishing. Glass ionomer cylinders were bonded to all specimens and subsequently tested by a universal testing machine to measure the glass ionomer shear bond strength. The type of fracture was examined by a stereomicroscope. Data analysis was carried out using the SPSS 22 statistical software. Data were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance and posthoc Tukey tests (α =0.05). RESULTS: The mean shear bond strength of the glass ionomer was significantly higher in the control group than in the other three groups (P < 0.05). The mean shear bond strength of glass ionomer was significantly higher in the SDF-treated group than in the non-SDF treated and SDF-treated and polished groups (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: Although the glass ionomer bond strength to sound enamel was higher than other groups by a significant margin, the application of SDF increases the shear bond strength of the glass ionomer to remineralized white spot enamel in primary teeth.