Parental Perceptions of Silver Diamine Fluoride Discoloration in Baghdad/Iraq
Author(s): Asmaa M Khammas* and Aseel HMJ Al-Haidar
Abstract
Introduction: The major drawback of Silver diamine fluoride was the dark discoloration of the treated carious lesion. Aim: This study was conducted to determine the parental acceptability and perceptions to the discoloration and assess whether the degree of their acceptability could be altered with the position of the discoloured teeth, child attitude and the demographic characteristics of parents. Method: The parents who attended the dental clinic received a questionnaire which formulated with short summery about silver diamine fluoride with photographs (before and after treatment) and containing questions about the demographical data, attitude of the child in the dental clinic and the acceptability of SDF discoloration at different locations and situation according to child attitude. Coded data were processed in IBM SPSS statistics software for calculating the result by using independent t- test and P-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: 79 mothers and 23 fathers with different backgrounds were participated in this study. The acceptance of silver diamine fluoride discoloration was more in the back teeth 71.6% and less in the front teeth 43.2%. Statistically, nonsignificant differences were obtained with the demographic data like age, gender, community, and educational level while high associations were found with the different child attitudes. Conclusion: Silver diamine fluoride discoloration showed widely different acceptability. The position of the tooth and child attitude were the most influenced factors in the perception of the parents that the discoloration was more tolerable when the tooth located posteriorly, and the child acting was worse.