Atraumatic Restorative Treatments reduce the need for Dental General Anaesthesia: a Non-inferiority randomised controlled trial.

A dental general anaesthesia (DGA) is commonly undertaken for the management of dental caries in young children. A randomised controlled trial was undertaken to test the feasibility of using the Atraumatic Restorative Treatment and Hall Technique approaches (ART/HT) to manage the dental treatment of children recommended for a DGA.Consenting children, recommended a DGA for caries management, at the Oral Health Centre of Western Australia were randomised. Test group children were treated using the ART/HT approach and the control group under a DGA. Children were examined after 12 months by two blinded, calibrated examiners. Analysis was on an intention to treat basis; between and within group comparisons were undertaken using appropriate paired and unpaired tests. Logistic regression was used to test restorative success, controlling for clustering of teeth.Sixty-five children participated, (Test=32; Control=33). At study termination, 28 children (88%) in the ART/HT group and 20 children (61%) in the DGA group had been provided with care, p<0.01. Crown restorations were protective of restorative failure in a multivariate logistic model (OR 0.05, p<0.01).Use of the ART/HT approach enabled timely dental treatment of young children recommended for a DGA, and should be among the treatment options considered.