Evaluation of Atraumatic Restorative Treatment restorations and sealants under field conditions

Abstract

Conventional restorative procedures require the use of dental materials, expensive equipment, instruments and electricity. This makes dental restorations costly and limits the availability and accessibility of the service to areas where these facilities are available. The new philosophy of restorative care requires minimal intervention and advocates early interception of the caries process through the use of glass-ionomers as sealants and as restorations. This new approach makes dental care accessible to all members of society in developing countries. The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) restorations and sealants under field conditions. Both were assessed for their retentive properties and the development of secondary caries adjacent to the procedures. A longitudinal study design was followed. ART restorations and sealants were assessed at intervals of 6 and 12 months. After 12 months 56.5% of ART restorations were still present in the primary dentition and 84% in the permanent dentition. Of these 85.1% had no defects in the primary and 78.6% no defects in the permanent teeth. 72.3% of primary and 92% of permanent teeth on which ART restorations were placed had no caries after 1 year. Even though most of the sealants were absent due to poor retention after 12 months (89.6%), 98.9% of the teeth where the sealant was initially placed had no caries. Only 6.3% of sealants present had marginal defects. The ART technique is strongly recommended for the management of small, occlusal carious lesions in primary and permanent teeth.