Summary
The atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) has been incorporated into clinical practice as a definitive and/or provisional method to control high levels of caries. It is particularly useful when you need to deliver care to isolated communities with limited access to public health care system. The aim of the study was to determine the permanence and status of fillings made with atraumatic restorative technique in permanent teeth of children aged 6-16 years in the commune of Curarrehue, Araucanía Region, Chile. The target population consisted of 249 children between 3 and 16 years living in Curarrehue. Seven months after performing fillings, a clinical examination was performed to participants where restorations were evaluated according to the criteria established by Frencken to evaluate the ART. One hundred seventy-two teeth restored with ART were examined, 142 of these restorations were successful, corresponding to 82% of permanence. Furthermore, regarding the status of the restorations, 58% were found to be in optimal condition, 24% were considered acceptable and 18% were considered unacceptable. According to observations during the course of this work, it becomes apparent that ART is a useful tool for the control of dental caries in isolated populations or with less access to dental care.
KEY WORDS: atraumatic restorative treatment, dental caries, glass ionomer, survival.
How to cite this article
RUDLOFF, T. K.; HARISTOY, O. R. & VELÁSQUEZ, C. M. Survival of atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) restorations in permanent teeth. Int. J. Odontostomat., 8(1):53-58, 2014.
