Being told that your three-year-old needs several fillings under general anesthesia is one of the more frightening conversations in pediatric medicine. It is also expensive, often requires a hospital or surgical center, and carries the anxieties that come with sedating a small child.
A large new trial gives parents in that position something concrete to raise. Published in JAMA Pediatrics, the phase 3 study found that a liquid painted onto a cavity in a few seconds, with no drilling, no injection, and no sedation, arrested decay in more than half of affected baby teeth when applied every six months.
