Abstract Introduction: Dental caries affects both primary and permanent dentitions. This study was done to evaluate the antibacterial effectiveness of Solanum t rilobatum (fruit) amla silver nanoparticle (AgNP) varnish, sodium fluoride (NaF) varnish, and silver diamine fluoride (SDF) against streptococcus mutans in the prevention of dental caries. Materials and Methods: In this in vitro investigation, 48 dentine blocks coated with saliva, obtained from extracted primary molars exhibiting deep carious lesions, were inoculated with a monospecies biofilm of S . mutans . These biofilms were nourished with 10% sucrose-enriched brain–heart infusion broth, administered four times daily over a 7-day period. Following the biofilm maturation phase, the dentine blocks were divided into four groups ( n = 12 each) and treated with one of the following test agents: Group A was treated with 38% SDF, Group B received 5% NaF varnish, Group C was treated with amla silver nanoparticle fluoride (ASNF), and Group D was treated with S. trilobatum (fruit) AgNP varnish. Postapplication, the samples underwent at 48-h incubation for 37ºC, after that assessments were conducted to measure the zones of inhibition produced by each treatment agents. Results: After being treated with SDF and the AgNP varnish product, S . mutans count was drastically reduced ( P < 0.05). Conversely, SDF indicated maximum antibacterial action followed by amla AgNP varnish and least with NaF varnish ( P < 0.05). Conclusion: Herbal AgNP varnish antibacterial activity is equally effective and can be proposed to use.
Bahammam et al. (2026) studied this question.