Effectiveness and Acceptability of SDF Compared to ART for the Management of Early Childhood Caries

An open-label parallel superiority randomized clinical trial (RCT) will be conducted involving children aged 2 to 5 years. The aim of this clinical trial is to assess the acceptability and clinical effectiveness of Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) in comparison with Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) in Early Childhood Caries (ECC) management. As well, this clinical trial sought to compare the oral health quality of life related and to contrast possible adverse effects between both therapies. Participants will be screened and diagnosed by an experienced and calibrated dentist using the International Caries Detection and Assessment System (ICDAS), thereafter only children with decayed teeth (or tooth) will be treated. After the diagnostic participants eligibles will be randomly chosen by another operator to be treated with SDF or ART for all teeth who need treatment in the child: - Experimental: SDF application in decayed teeth and oral health education component. - Control: ART technique in decayed teeth and oral health education component. The oral health education component will be given to children, parents and educators. The eligible children parents will be asked to fulfill a children personal background survey (before treatment), the Early childhood oral health impact scale (ECOHIS) questionnaire (before and after treatment at follow-ups) and a oral health satisfaction survey (a week after treatment and at follow-ups). The acceptability will be assessed through quantitative and qualitative methods. A sample is: 234 teeth with carious lesions per group is estimated. Estimating an average of three teeth with carious lesions per child, 78 children are necessary per group.