Comment
It was wonderful to see Lauren Roberts article (Tues 12 March) “Fluoride alone no fix for NT teeth”.
As a dentist who treated patients in the remote communities in North East Arnhem Land for more than 10 years, we and other clinicians were confronted by a massive backlog of untreated dental needs. The demand for immediate relief of pain was a priority, frequently requiring the extraction of untreatable teeth. However at the same appointment, we could easily apply the Silver Fluoride (now CSDS) whilst awaiting dental anaesthesia.
This would result in a stable condition called “arrested caries”, which would enable the possible provision of restorative treatment in the future, when our clinical demands were hopefully reduced.
This procedure was applied to both adult and children’s teeth, and being atraumatic, was very readily accepted by the patients.
With the children especially, this was very empowering, as many of the teeth that required treatment were deciduous (baby) teeth that would be exfoliated with time. With the children in particular, this treatment saved many hospital visits where extensive travel costs and general anaesthetics would have been necessary to provide treatment.
We called the treated teeth “Black Diamonds” and it was wonderful when walking through the community after work, to be greeted by the young patients, keen to show us their “black diamonds”!
This same treatment is being used in aged care centres down south, where there is the need for dental treatment, but limited available treatment facilities. The treatment even has additional benefits in these situations as it makes keeping the gums healthy easier!
Dr Neil Lanceley