Dental cavity treatments: Silver diamine fluoride, ART

Silver Diamine Fluoride

Silver diamine fluoride (SDF) is a liquid substance used to help prevent tooth cavities (or caries) from forming, growing, or spreading to other teeth. ...
SDF was first approved for use in Japan more than 80 years ago. SDF was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2014 for use in the United States.
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It’s sold in some stores for home use, but it’s most commonly and safely used in dental clinics.
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SDF is most commonly used on areas affected by cavities. Research shows that SDF can be just as helpful when used as a preventive measure by being applied to healthy tooth surfaces.

Research also suggests that dentists don’t need to treat cavities with fillings or tooth surface modification before using SDF.

Traditionally, many dentists have used a fluoride varnish to help stop cavity development. SDF has proven to be much more successful at reducing cavity growth than varnish. SDF also requires fewer treatments over time.

There’s no set number of applications required for SDF to work. Most dentists only apply SDF once per year. Varnishes often need to be applied four or more times per year.

UCSF Protocol for Caries Arrest Using Silver Diamine Fluoride: Rationale, Indications, and Consent (2016)
Figure 3 outlines the application procedure. It indicates the SDF is applied to the teeth with a microsponge, allowed to sit and be absorbed for a minute or so, then rinsed off.

The main drawback I read is that it stains the cavity a dark color.

Atraumatic restorative treatment

Atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) is a method for cleaning out tooth decay (dental caries) from teeth using only hand instruments (dental hatchet and spoon-excavator) and placing a filling. It does not use rotary dental instruments (dental drills) to prepare the tooth and can be performed in settings with no access to dental equipment. No drilling or local anaesthetic injections are required.
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Although ART was initially developed in response to the needs of populations with less access to dental care, it had similar outcomes to more invasive treatments (local anaesthetic and drilling the tooth with dental bur). This means that it is suitable for use in any type of setting (from deprived communities to dental clinics) and it has been widely adopted into mainstream care.