MODE OF ACTION OF SILVER DIAMINE FLUORIDE
Mechanism of action of silver
Multiple modes of action have been proposed for
silver. Studies have indicated that silver interacts with
sulfhydryl groups of proteins and with deoxyribonucleic
acid (DNA), altering hydrogen bonding and inhibiting
respiratory processes, DNA unwinding, cell-wall
synthesis, and cell division.[27,28] At the macro level,
these interactions effect bacterial killing and inhibit
biofilm formation.[29] The central mechanism for these
diverse effects is proposed to be the interaction of silver
with thiol groups by the following mechanism:
A/N − SH + AgX → A/N − S − Ag + HX
Where A/N represents amino (A) or nucleic (N)
acids (respectively), SH represents a thiol group, Ag
represents silver, and X represents an anion (in the
current example, diamine fluoride). This interaction
indicates how silver containing compound, might
interact with bacteria and mediate caries arrest through
bacterial killing and inhibit caries progress through the
inhibition of biofilm formation.[