Performance of Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) depending on operator-experience

Abstract

For The Republic of The Gambia--especially for areas with underdeveloped medical infrastructure--training and assignment to perform ART can be recommended for auxiliary dental staff of Community Oral Health Workers.

Class III Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) in adults living in West Africa - outcomes after 48 months

“…While some authors described an operator‐effect between dental therapists and dentists (30), other investigators did not find significant differences (31). The absence of an operator‐effect between the Community Oral Health Workers of our study and dentists was published elsewhere (6).…”

“…ART combines a less traumatic technique because of manual cavity preparation with the use of a glass‐ionomer cement as an adhesive and fluoride releasing restoration material (4, 5). The clinical skills are simple, and therefore, ART can be performed by dental auxiliaries (6). In areas without primary oral health care, however, carious teeth often remain untreated or are extracted in case of complications (7).…”

Caries Experience of Egyptian Adolescents: Does the Atraumatic Restorative Treatment Approach Offer a Solution?

“…Training dental personnel in ART is a necessity if one wants to provide quality preventive and restorative care. Also the type of dental personnel may be a factor in the success of ART restorations with dentists performing better than nondentists [26] . ART is considered one of the treatments that constitute modern caries management within the concept of Minimal Intervention Dentistry [7] , but it should not be looked at lightly.…”

Cost‐effectiveness of ART restorations in elderly adults: a randomized clinical trial

“…In the present study, only one dentist trained in the ART technique provided the restorations, but it is likely that a hygienist also properly trained in the technique could produce the same output. Other studies have shown no difference in restoration placement time between properly trained operators , whether they are fully trained dentists or not. However, a revision of the dental hygiene curriculum would be necessary in countries where these professionals do not perform restorations such as Ireland, giving an emphasis to the ART technique.…”