The Smiles Dental Program is coming to your school to provide students with no-cost preventive dental services.
Dental Evaluation: An evaluation of the student's mouth (without x-rays), oral cancer screen, and dental evaluation
Fluoride Varnish: A protective treatment painted onto teeth.
Sealants: A protective barrier placed on molars to 'seal' out cavities.
Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF): A painless, topical liquid painted onto the teeth to prevent cavities from forming on healthy teeth AND to stop or slow decay if cavities are present.
1. Does not hurt. It is simple and fast to apply. Watch this short video explaining SDF..
2. When SDF is applied to healthy teeth, SDF absorbs into the tooth offering strong protection against cavities. SDF has comparable results to dental sealants at preventing cavities in healthy teeth.
3. If SDF is applied on a cavity, it will slow or stop tooth decay from spreading. The silver in SDF kills the germs that cause tooth decay.
4. If SDF is applied on a cavity, it will stain the cavity black permanently. Only decayed areas of the tooth will stain. Healthy teeth will not stain from SDF. The treated decay can always be treated with a cosmetic filling later on at your dentist's office if desired.
5. Because of potential for staining, SDF will only be applied to the back (posterior) teeth in the Smiles program.
6. Patients should not be treated with SDF if they have a silver allergy.
7. If SDF touches the skin or gums, a harmless “henna-like” stain may appear for 1-3 weeks.
8. The SDF procedure may not fully stop the decay and no guarantee of success is granted or implied. Further dental treatment may still be needed.
9. Tooth decay that is not stopped completely will continue to worsen. In that case, the tooth will require further treatment from your dentist, such as additional doses of SDF, a filling or crown, root canal treatment, or extraction. Your dentist may still recommend dental filling or crowns to repair function or appearance.
10. If you have questions, please call the Smiles program at 970-309-2064.
The Licensed Dental Hygienist providing the silver diamine fluoride treatments works in collaboration with Dr. Rachel Brown, DDS, 371 Robinson St. Basalt, CO 81621, 970-927-9112.
Smiles will keep a record of your child's dental services so that we can provide good ongoing care. De-identified information may be shared with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to collect data on services provided.
Smiles does not take the place of seeing your dentist for routine care and treatment.