An ART field study in western Nepal

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of three different types of glass ionomer restorations placed in children's teeth using the ART technique two years after placement by either dentists or primary health care workers. Setting: The rural district of Palpa in western Nepal. Method: An opportunistic non-randomised field study, commenced in April 1997. Three different glass ionomer restorative cements were used: Fuji IXR (GC), Dentsply Baseline(R) (DENTSPLY/DeTrey), and S.S. White(R) (S.S. White). The restorations were assessed two years later by an independent evaluator, who was blind to the type of restorations used and also blind to the operators. Results: Four primary health care workers and two dentists restored 163 primary and permanent teeth using hand instruments. One and two surface restorations were placed in 105 students ranging from 3 to 19 years of age from seven schools. After two years, 79 (75%) of the restorations survived and 27 (25%) failed, while 100% of 21 evaluated single surface restorations placed on permanent molars with Fuji IX survived. There was no statistically significant difference in the survival of the restorations placed by dentists and placed by primary health care workers, which corroborates that both groups are both capable of performing the technique satisfactorily. Conclusions: ART is very effective for one surface permanent molars using improved glass ionomer cements designed for the ART technique.