Pain experience after conventional, atraumatic, and ultraconservative restorative treatments in 6- to 7-yr-old children

Abstract

The hypothesis was tested that the level of pain experienced by children during conventional restorative treatment is higher than during atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) or an ultraconservative treatment. The sample consisted of 244 children, 6- to 7 yr of age, who had at least two teeth with dentine carious lesions. Before the first treatment session (Tx-1), in which one of the carious teeth was treated using one of the treatments, the level of dental anxiety was assessed using the Facial Image Scale (FIS). The child reported the intensity of pain experienced during the procedure using the Wong-Baker FACES Pain Rating Scale. When conventional restorative treatment was used, more children needed local anaesthesia. Analyses excluding the data of children who had received local anaesthesia showed no treatment group effect on the Wong-Baker score, a FIS Tx-1 effect on the Wong-Baker score, and a statistically significant correlation between FIS Tx-1 and Wong-Baker scores. There was no significant difference in the pain levels of children treated using conventional restorative treatment, atraumatic restorative treatment or ultraconservative treatment. Local anaesthesia had to be administered more frequently to children in the conventional restorative group than to those in the other two treatment groups.

Management of fear and anxiety in the dental clinic: a review

“…It should be noted that all restraint methods are considered controversial and are not uniformly accepted. 129 While the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, for example, recommends the use of restraint only in instances where safety might be a concern and when 'no other alternatives are available', there is a contrary opinion that unless the situation is potentially life-threatening, the process is entirely unacceptable, perhaps even inhumane. 149 In Australia, while the use of hand-over-mouth to control serious behavioural disturbances in children has not been practised for decades, there has been greater, albeit only occasional use, of gentle restraint or getting parents to restrain their children.…”

Longevity of atraumatic restorations performed by undergraduate dentistry students

“…The technique is well accepted for fearful patients because it eliminates the use of anesthesia 4,5 . It can be applied in rural or suburban areas and disadvantaged communities (including those in which minority groups live), and can be used to treat patients in nursing homes, day care centers, and orphanages 1 .…”

“…Despite the ease of implementation 5 , the longevity of restorations performed using this minimally invasive technique must be evaluated to verify its success. Reported success rates of atraumatic class I and class II restorations in primary teeth range from 43.4% to 96.7% and from 12.2% to 83.3%, respectively 3 .…”

“…Hand tools are used to partially remove dentin affected by caries, followed by the sealing of the cavity with glass ionomer cement 5 . The irreversibly infected dentin, highly contaminated by cariogenic microorganisms and responsible for the progression of the carious lesion, is removed only with curettes, preserving the deeper portion and allowing for dentin remineralization 5,7 . ART is thus minimally invasive and reduces the likelihood of the need for future endodontic treatment and extraction.…”

Avaliação clínica e ex vivo de molares decíduos submetidos a diferentes protocolos terapêuticos no manejo da cárie dentária

“…envolvimento pulpar (P); ulceração (U); fístula (F) ou abscesso (A) em função de 57 cárie e/ou de tratamentos implementados (20). As crianças também foram questionadas sobre ter ou ter tido dor de dente e o porquê de um dente não estar mais presente -se foi extraído ou esfoliou.…”