[ART or conventional restorations? A final evaluation of proximal restorations in deciduous molars]

In this article the success rate of class 2 ART and conventional (prepared with a bur) restorations in deciduous molars is described. In 1999 approximately 200 ART and 200 conventional restorations were made in deciduous molars in Bandung, Indonesia. The restorations were evaluated after 1.5 month, half a year, 1 year, 2 years and 3 years. The three-year evaluation took place in October 2003. Results show that after 3 years 31% (ART) and 33.6% (conventional) of the restorations were successful (no significant difference). There was a significant difference between the operators. If keeping the element until shedding is the only criterion, the success rate increased to 53.