An ART field study in western Nepal

Aim: To evaluate the effectiveness of three different types of glass ionome r 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 no n-randomised field study, commenced in April 1997. Three different glass io nomer restorative cements were used: Fuji IXR (GC), Dentsply Baseline(R) (D ENTSPLY/DeTrey), and S.S. White(R) (S.S. White). The restorations were asse ssed two years later by an independent evaluator, who was blind to the type of restorations used and also blind to the operators. Results: Four primar y health care workers and two dentists restored 163 primary and permanent t eeth using hand instruments. One and two surface restorations were placed i n 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 molar s with Fuji IX survived. There was no statistically significant difference in the survival of the restorations placed by dentists and placed by primar y health care workers, which corroborates that both groups are both capable of performing the technique satisfactorily. Conclusions: ART is very effec tive for one surface permanent molars using improved glass ionomer cements designed for the ART technique.