Background. The authors evaluated the 24-month performance of a packable resin-based composite/dentin bonding system and a high-viscosity glass ionomer cement (GIC) in restorations placed in primary molars with the atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) approach.
Methods. Three dentists placed 419 restorations in 219 children aged 6 through 10 years who had bilateral matched pairs of carious posterior Class I and II primary teeth. They used a split-mouth design to place the two materials, which were assigned randomly to contralateral sides. The authors evaluated the restorations according to U.S. Public Health Service Ryge criteria.
Results. After 24 months, 96.7 percent of the Class I GIC restorations and 91 percent of the resin-based composite restorations survived, while the success rates for the Class II restorations were 76.1 percent and 82 percent for the GIC and resin-based composite restorations, respectively. The survival rate of the Class II resin-based composite restorations was 5.9 percent higher than that of the GIC restorations at the 24-month evaluation, but this difference was not statistically significant. However, the study results showed a statistically significant difference in survival rates between Class I and II restorations for both materials.
Conclusion and Clinical Implications. The two-year clinical performance of both materials was satisfactory for the restoration of Class I and II primary molars using the ART approach.
, PhD, DDS
