Three-year survival of one-surface ART restorations and glass-ionomer sealants in a school oral health programme in Zimbabwe.

An oral health care programme in secondary schools using the atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) approach for dental caries was started in 1993. Glass ionomer (restorative type II, 1) was used as the restorative and sealant material. Sealants were placed using the 'press-finger' technique. Results after 3 years revealed a survival percentage for one-surface ART restorations of 85.3 (95% CL: 89.7-80.9%), which ranged from 96.1 to 69.3% per operator. Failures were related to 'unacceptable marginal defects' (8.1%), 'falling out' (6.1%) and 'excessive wear' (2.5%). Of the 33 failed one-surface ART restorations, 17 were material-related, 7 had caries and no information was available for 9 restorations. Sealants were placed only on surfaces diagnosed as early enamel lesions and on some small dentinal lesions. After 3 years, 50.1% (95% CL: 55.1-45.1%) of the fully and partially retained sealants survived with a range of 68.5-25.9% per operator. Regardless of the low rate of retention, the sealed surfaces had a 4 times lower chance of developing caries than unsealed surfaces with early enamel lesions over the 3-year period. The retention of sealants and the survival of one-surface ART restorations were influenced by an operator effect. The mean treatment time for one-surface ART restorations without chairside assistance was 22.1 min (range per operator of 19.8-23.6 min), whilst the mean time for placing sealants was 9.3 min (range per operator of 8.2-10.8 min). It is concluded that the ART approach and the use of glass-ionomer sealants have made preventive and restorative dental care available for this student population and further that ART seems to be appropriate for population groups currently not receiving preventive and restorative dental care.