MANAGEMENT OF DENTAL CARIES WITH ATRAUMATIC RESTORATIVE TREATMENT UNDER FIELD CONDITION IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN OYO...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Dentistry
• Public Health
• Restorative Dentistry

Background:

• Dental caries is a prevalent childhood disease leading to tooth loss.
• Nigerian children exhibit a high unmet need for dental caries treatment due to accessibility issues.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) for dental caries in a field setting.
• To evaluate the acceptability of ART among primary school pupils in Nigeria.

Main Methods:

• ART was provided to 432 pupils in six Nigerian primary schools.
• Restorations were assessed for intactness at 6 and 12 weeks; pain and discomfort were recorded.
• Data analysis involved descriptive statistics.

Main Results:

• Of 40 eligible decayed teeth, 96.4% of ART fillings were intact at 6 weeks, and 82.1% at 12 weeks.
• No participants reported pain during treatment, indicating high acceptability.
• Low baseline DMFT/dmft scores (0.06/0.07) were observed.

Conclusions:

• Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) is an acceptable and effective method for managing dental caries in underserved school populations.
• Field-based ART delivery improves access to essential dental care for children in remote areas.