Anticaries effect of atraumatic restorative treatment with fissure sealants in suburban districts of Turkey

Background/PurposeThis 3-year field trial was performed to compare the effectiveness of high-viscosity atraumatic restorative treatment with glass ionomer sealant (ARTGIS) on the development of caries in a population of children living in two distinct localities in Diyarbakir City in southeastern Anatolia, Turkey. One of these was a suburban district with low socioeconomic conditions and lacked routine dental care, and the other was located in the city center and had a moderate socioeconomic status with proximity to a well-designed dental center.Materials and methodsTwo primary schools were selected as study sites in these two locations. In total, 368 ART-GIS procedures were performed on 208 children aged 9-11 years, while 174 children who were students at another school in the center of the same city did not receive the sealant and served as controls. The clinical status of the ART-GIS was evaluated at the baseline and during the first, second and third years after placement. Differences between the two groups for each evaluation period were analyzed using Student's t test for the two independent groups.ResultsThe control group had nearly ten, five and three times greater numbers of new caries than did the ART group during the first, second and third years, respectively. The difference between the groups was statistically significant for each examination period with respect to the number of children having new caries (Student's t test, P < 0.001), and new caries occurrence (Student's t test, P < 0.001).ConclusionThese results clearly show that the ART-GIS procedure can be used as a preventive method in rural and/or suburban areas where other preventive approaches are neither available nor economical.