Antibacterial efficacy of nano-silver, nano-chitosan and silver diamine fluoride against Streptococcus mutans.

Dental caries in primary teeth remains a major pediatric health concern driven by Streptococcus mutans, necessitating effective antimicrobial strategies. Therefore, it is of interest to compare the antibacterial efficacy of nano silver, nano-chitosan and silver diamine fluoride against S. mutans isolated from carious primary teeth. Hence, an in vitro design using agar well diffusion, minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration assays was conducted on samples from 30 extracted primary molars. Nano silver demonstrated the highest antibacterial activity followed by silver diamine fluoride and nano-chitosan, with the lowest MIC observed for nano silver. Thus, we show that nano silver exhibits superior antibacterial potential and may serve as an effective adjunct in pediatric caries management.