Survival of occlusal ART restorations using high-viscosity glass-ionomer with and without chlorhexidine: A 2-year split-mouth quadruple-blind randomized controlled clinical trial

The study question was whether the use of high-viscosity glass-ionomer with chlorhexidine (HVGIC/CHX) for the Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) prepared cavities could achieve a higher restoration survival percentage and be more effective for preventing dentine carious lesions adjacent to the restoration than the use of HVGIC without CHX. The study followed a split-mouth, quadruple-blind, randomized controlled clinical design and lasted 2 years. Patients with at least two small- to medium-sized occlusal cavities were included. The occlusal cavities were prepared according to the ART method and restored with HVGIC/CHX (test) and HVGIC (control). A replica of all restorations available and digital photographs were fabricated at baseline and after 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 years and evaluated by two examiners using the ART and Federation Dentaire International (FDI) restoration assessment criteria. Survival curves were constructed using the Kaplan-Meier method, and the log-rank test was used to test for significance between the survival percentages. A total of 100 subjects with an average age of 14.4 years participated. According to the ART restoration assessment criteria, the 2-year survival percentages of ART/HVGIC/CHX (96.8%) and ART/HVGIC (94.8%) did not differ significantly and no significant difference was found between the test (97.9%) and control (96.9%) groups according to the FDI restoration assessment criteria. Eight and five occlusal restorations failed according to the ART and FDI restoration criteria, respectively. No dentine carious lesions along the restoration margin were observed. The 2-year survival of ART restorations in both groups was high. The development of carious dentine lesions adjacent to the restoration was not observed in either treatment group. There is no evidence for modifying HVGIC by incorporating chlorhexidine in order to prevent dentine carious lesion development or to improve the survival of ART restorations in occlusal surfaces in permanent teeth. HVGIC without chlorhexidine can be used successfully to restore occlusal ‘ART-prepared’ cavities in permanent teeth.