Comparative Evaluation of Effect of Silver Diamine Fluoride and Glass Ionomer Cement on Microhardness of Artificial Caries Lesion in Primary Teeth: An In Vitro Study

To evaluate the remineralizing potential of glass ionomer cement (GIC) and silver diamine fluoride (SDF) on artificially induced enamel caries lesions in primary teeth. The initial baseline surface microhardness (SMH) of 40 primary teeth was tested using Vickers hardness tester, followed by the creation of artificial caries lesions by immersion in the demineralizing solution. Microhardness assessments of demineralized samples were done, and samples were randomly divided into two groups of 20 specimens: in group I, GIC was applied on demineralized enamel, and in group II, SDF was applied on demineralized enamel. Samples were subjected to pH cycling. For group I, GIC from the enamel samples was carefully removed using a surgical blade, and changes in the SMH from both groups were analyzed using Vickers microhardness test. Surface microhardness (SMH) value after pH cycling of GIC (45 ± 10.23) and SDF (47.76 ± 6.69) is statistically highly significant (