 Good morning Andrea here. I've been a dental professional for 18 years now, and I've had my own mobile dental hygiene practice since 2018 and silver diamine fluoride that cavity killing liquid is something that I use in my practice every day for adults children Seniors even on myself that cavity killing liquid It's called silver diamine fluoride if you've heard that before What it does is it kills the cavity so it kills the bacteria that's causing the cavity So the cavity doesn't have a chance to get bigger So in this video, I'm going to explain the differences of why and when could you use silver diamine fluoride? Versus getting a traditional dental filling and with a traditional dental filling as we all know We have to take out that high-speed handpiece and we actually have to drill a hole Into that tooth to fix the cavity and then we put a filling over top So let me talk about the differences when I use silver diamine fluoride and when I do recommend a dental filling So a silver diamine fluoride is amazing and I wish more offices use it But a little side note here most offices don't use it because They just simply wait and see and wait for that cavity to get worse if it does and then it is very easy to just Drill into the tooth and do a filling but what I do as a dental hygienist is I like the preventative aspect Dentists fix things. Okay, which is great. We need them, of course same as we need dental hygienists dental hygienists prevent things We like to prevent cavities. We like to prevent gum disease anyways I could do a whole video on that but a silver diamine fluoride is what I absolutely use the most and I have used it on my own teeth basically what I look for is if I'm looking inside the mouth and I see a sticky spot on the tooth It could even be black. It could be brown when you've ever had a cavity You can probably tell you have one just because it looks different But in those earlier stages of cavities if we touch the tooth with our dental instrument if it's sticky That tells us that's an active cavity and we need to do something about it When you go to the dental office if you've ever heard the dentist say oh, this is a little bit sticky or we're watching that tooth There is a cavity in it or it could become a cavity because it's sticky, but we're going to watch it for now It's too small to do a filling. It wouldn't be necessary So what they do is they watch for it to get bigger Sometimes it doesn't though, which is what we always hope but in most cases it does and then at your next visit They tell you remember that spot that we were watching last time now. We have to drill into the tooth We have to give we have to give you a filling and then the cavity will be gone Instead what I do when I see children adults senior it doesn't matter who you are as I'm checking each and every tooth If it's a little bit sticky or the color has changed on that top surface of the tooth I'm going to apply that silver dining fluoride because why not it's a simple little drop on a Micro brush it literally takes point five seconds. It's very very easy. It's quick. It's easy It doesn't smell. It's the easiest thing ever. Okay, it doesn't taste the best Okay, but what things do in dentistry if it does taste good, that's probably strange, right? But that's the only downside to it I put a little drop on that watch area or where I think it's going to become a cavity and that Liquid actually kills the bacteria causing the cavity so that cavity cannot get any bigger But the key is you do have to brush well So if you're one of those people who brushes every couple of days or you don't brush as well as you know You should that cavity will come back the liquid can only do so much But if you brush the area well, you're fine. You're absolutely fine and that cavity should not come back I will check it at every single appointment and I even just apply a little bit of another Drop on every single appointment just to make sure that that cavity isn't going to come back. Isn't that so much easier? What would you prefer would you prefer to spend $300 and they drill into your tooth to put in a filling Or would you prefer to spend depending on how many teeth have a little cavity where we do have to put the drops in It could be 25 to 75 dollars where we put that little drop on the tooth And that's it. It takes like two seconds As you can imagine silver diamond fluoride is amazing for children Especially young children two year olds can get cavities Any tooth can get a cavity. Do you think your child is going to sit there for 30 minutes to get a needle? a They're going to drill into the tooth have to do the filling no child no adult wants to do that So to tell a child that they're going to have to do that It's not going to work and that's why a lot of times The dentist office has to put your child to sleep so they can do their work, but that's very expensive We're talking $3,000 Depending on where you're located, right? So wouldn't it better to just have a little drop applied to those teeth? Your child won't even notice because it's so quick and then that's it There is no catch to it you guys it truly is that easy and that amazing I would choose silver diamond fluoride any day I guess the only catch is if the cavity is too large Then the liquid can only do so much and you'll probably need a filling anyway. Imagine if the cavity is so large There's a big hole in the tooth. Well, we should put a filling on anyway to cover that hole and bring the tooth structure back Does that make sense? But if it's a little cavity where it's not quite through the enamel yet even if it is through a little bit That's okay, but if the tooth structure is compromised. There's a hole or there's a chip It's probably best to put in a filling anyway But you can still do the silver diamond fluoride first to prevent that cavity from getting bigger So I think that sounds pretty amazing silver diamond fluoride is amazing And it can prevent so much cavities It can prevent you from losing a tooth because of such a big cavity It can prevent you from getting root canals because you had such a big cavity That's why it's so important to see your dental hygienists on a regular basis So we can catch those cavities sooner rather than later apply a simple liquid and then die Sorry guys, I'm getting over a cold and I forgot my water to prevent this cough from happening I apologize, but if you guys have any questions, please comment below I do have some links for you if you want to learn more about it Have a look down below I'm going to link two different websites if you want to learn more of the scientificness behind it all And if you want to see some other videos as well of how quick it is how easy it is One thing I did forget to mention is though silver diamond fluoride will stain that cavity area black Not the whole tooth or anything but that cavity area black But that tells us it has worked and there's an active cavity and it's doing its magic And typically a cavity is going to be a dark color anyway So you won't even notice a difference But this might be why if you have a small cavity on a front tooth We might not do silver diamond fluoride It might be best to do a filling anyway Because you don't want any dark areas from the silver diamond fluoride Anyway, you guys if you have any questions, please comment below I am very happy to help any questions The key is to ask your dental hygienist But I will leave the links down below for you if you want to read a little bit more on this Thank you guys so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one