ATRAUMATIC RESTORATIVE TREATMENT (ART)
ART - Advocated by World Health Organization (WHO) and Federation of Dental International (FDI)
-- is the revolutionary technique of filling teeth without electricity, anesthetics or normal dental equipment. ART uses seven small hand instruments to remove tooth decay and a filling material, within a fraction as hard as silver that chemically bonds to the tooth without pain. The powder when mixed as a filling is 28% fluoride.
This fluoride is released up to eight years and decreases decay and gum disease substantially on the same side of the mouth as the ART filling. Once a day a pea-size application of fluoride toothpaste (after brush and water) is projected to provide the same protection for up to 30 years as the filling becomes a reservoir.
ART differs from traditional silver or composite fillings as a minimally invasive cavity preparation. Very little, if any, healthy tooth is removed in the ART technique. The amount of completely demineralized dentine (decay) removed dictates the size and extent of the ART cavity preparation. The traditional cavity size and extent are dictated by the removal of all completely demineralized and partially demineralized dentine, plus extension for prevention of cutting out all pits, fissures and grooves which further weaken the tooth.
As the ART filling is placed in the cavity, the pits, fissures and grooves are automatically sealed and the tooth is strengthened because of minimal invasion, maximal prevention and the 100% chemical bonding at the interface with all surfaces of enamel and dentin with the ART filling material. At the Interface, the meeting of the filling material and enamel, the chemical bond of resistance to the acid causing decay, is a demonstrative barrier to decay. The weakest part of the traditional filling is recurrent decay where the filling and enamel meet.
This revolutionary approach has been used extensively in developing countries. ART was developed by Dr. Jo Frencken DDS, MSc, PhD, and a dental researcher in the Netherlands, who spent 14 years in African countries and who has been our consultant since 2000, now on our advisory board. He was International Dentist-of-the-Year in 1999. Dr. Frencken came to Chipata in August 2008 for a week to lead our calibration evaluation of our three-year oral health survey of ART sealants and ART restoration placed by six different graduate operators in September 2005. Results by Dr. Frencken show about five percent failures, favorably compared to dentistry throughout the world. Except for rare complete breakage across the isthmus of the ART sealant or restoration, repair is easy on top of the original ART and the double-bonding increases the strength of the filling material.
The remarkable efficiency of the system lies in its simplicity: the child patient lies on a wooden bench with his head in the operator's lap. An assistant using a wooden table and stool provides the hand instruments and materials in a modern four-handed, efficient procedure that is virtually painless.
ART Links:
MANUAL FOR THE ATRAUMATIC RESTORATIVE TREATMENT APPROACH TO CONTROL DENTAL CARIES
USING ART IN MISSION DENTISTRY
Introduction of Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART)
Atraumatic Restorative Treatment for Prevention and Treatment of Caries in an Underserved Community
Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART): A New Approach for controlling Dental Caries.
Department of Global Oral Health
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