Parental acceptance of silver diamine fluoride staining in Latvia

Background: Recent research has shown the effectiveness of Silver Diamine Fluoride (SDF) in arresting carious lesions in preschool Children. The silver present in SDF stains the carious lesion. Our aim is to assess the Latvian parents’ acceptance of primary teeth staining due to silver diamine fluoride (SDF)
treatment and to identify factors that explain this acceptance.
Methods: Cross-sectional study; parents of preschool children were invited to fill a translated and validated online questionnaire (Crystal et al. 2017) during August-December 2020.
Minimum sample size for national representativeness is 369, and this allows the detection of 7 multilevel factors. Data were analysed by descriptive statistics and logistic regression-model.
Results: We received 870 completed forms (97% mothers, 91% urban, 29% Master-PhD, 54% attended in public service). Acceptance of SDF staining for anterior/posterior teeth is 49%/84%. Factors significantly associated with higher acceptance were: for anterior teeth, parents with Master-PhD
degree (OR = 1.51, 95%CI[1.03,2.27]) or with 4 children (OR = 2.48,95%CI[1.09,6.44]), and for posterior teeth, parents of children who had been treated under general anesthesia (OR = 8.60,95%CI[1.58,161]. For both anterior-posterior teeth, parents choosing private dentistry (anterior OR = 1.46, 95%CI [1.03, 2.07]; posterior 1.80, 95%CI [1.03, 3.22]. Less
acceptance was evident in parents whose children were cooperative during restorative treatment (anterior OR = 0.53, 95%CI [0.30, 0.94]; posterior (OR = 0.28, 95%CI [0.14, 0.62]).
Conclusions: Latvian parents report moderate-to-high acceptance of SDF staining and the reasons associated with this acceptance vary according to tooth type.
Funding: Post-doctoral-Research-Aid-Programme (1.1.1.2/VIAA/3/19/540, Contract No. 9.-14.5/27).