CONCLUSION ART restorations have similar survival rate compared to conventional treatment and can be considered an option to restore occlusoproximal cavities in primary molars
BACKGROUND A previous systematic review showed that atraumatic restorative treatment ( ART ) can be an option to restore the occlusoproximal cavities in primary teeth ; however , few studies fulfilled the criteria of inclusion to generate a high level of evidence .
AIM To up date the existing systematic review and address questions regarding survival rate of ART restorations compared to the conventional approach in occlusoproximal cavities in primary molars .
Effectiveness of Glass-Ionomer (ART) and Amalgam Restorations in the Deciduous Dentition: Results after 3 Years
This study compared the survival of restorations produced through the atraumatic restorative treatment ( ART ) approach using glass-ionomer with those produced through the traditional approach using amalgam ( MTA ) in deciduous dentitions over a period of 3 years . Using a parallel group design , 835 grade 1 children , aged 6–7 years , participated . A total of 482 children were treated through the ART and 353 children through the MTA approach .  Eight dentists produced a total of 1,891 single- and multiple-surface restorations . After 3 years , 22.1 % of the restorations were lost for evaluation . There was a statistically significant difference in the combined survival of all single- and multiple-surface restorations between the two approaches in favour of the ART approach ( p = 0.04 ) . The study revealed a 3-year cumulative survival percentage of single-surface ART and MTA restorations of 86.1 and 79.6 % , respectively . The difference was statistically significant ( p = 0.03 ) . The main reasons for both single-surface ART and MTA restorations to fail was ‘ restoration missing ’ followed by ‘ gross marginal defect ’ . The 3-year cumulative survival percentages of multiple-surface ART and MTA restorations were 48.7 and 42.9 % , respectively . The difference was not statistically significant ( p > 0.05 ) . The 3-year survival percentages of single- and multiple- surface ART and MTA restorations varied widely amongst the 8 operators with an operator effect ( p = 0.001 ) for multiple-surface MTA restorations . It can be concluded that the ART approach using glass-ionomer yielded better results in treating dentinal lesions in deciduous teeth than did the traditional approach using amalgam after 3 years . It is recommended to select the ART approach to complement the other activities of the school oral health programme
CONCLUSION ART restorations have similar survival rate compared to conventional treatment and can be considered an option to restore occlusoproximal cavities in primary molars
BACKGROUND A previous systematic review showed that atraumatic restorative treatment ( ART ) can be an option to restore the occlusoproximal cavities in primary teeth ; however , few studies fulfilled the criteria of inclusion to generate a high level of evidence .
AIM To up date the existing systematic review and address questions regarding survival rate of ART restorations compared to the conventional approach in occlusoproximal cavities in primary molars .