Conclusions ART single-surface restorations  presented high survival percentages in both primary and permanent posterior teeth , whilst ART multiple-surface restorations presented lower survival percentages .
ART sealants presented a high-caries-preventive effect .
Clinical relevance ART is an effective evidence -based option for treating and preventing carious lesions in primary and permanent posterior teeth
Objective The aim of the present study is to up date the results of two previous meta-analyses , published in 2006 and 2012 , on the survival percentages of  atraumatic restorative treatment ( ART ) restorations and ART sealants .
The current meta- analysis includes Chinese publications not investigated before .
Pain related to different ways of minimal intervention in the treatment of small caries lesions.
Pain during invasive treatment of dental caries is a common phenomenon , if no local analgesia has been used before cavity preparation . Atraumatic restorative technique ( ART ) is a suggested procedure which is at least less traumatic for the patient . Although the ART approach has been received well by both children and adults who belong to population groups hardly ever exposed to regular oral health care , it has not yet been proven that this particular procedure really causes less pain , compared to more conventional techniques with rotating instruments . In the present study , pain was reported in connection with tooth restoration in 19.3 percent of the cases , when the ART technique was used , which is significantly less than with a conventional restorative technique ( 35.7 percent ) . Finally the results show a clear relationship in the pain reports between the first and the following treatments in both ART and the conventional technique groups
Conclusions ART single-surface restorations  presented high survival percentages in both primary and permanent posterior teeth , whilst ART multiple-surface restorations presented lower survival percentages .
ART sealants presented a high-caries-preventive effect .
Clinical relevance ART is an effective evidence -based option for treating and preventing carious lesions in primary and permanent posterior teeth
Objective The aim of the present study is to up date the results of two previous meta-analyses , published in 2006 and 2012 , on the survival percentages of  atraumatic restorative treatment ( ART ) restorations and ART sealants .
The current meta- analysis includes Chinese publications not investigated before .