Materials and Methods: The study was carried out among children in 9 primary schools and 5 secondary schools at Idikan and environs in Ibadan. A total of 187 ART restorations with and without dentine conditioners were randomly applied on carious lesions using the split-mouth design. The qualities of the restorations were evaluated at intervals of 6 months and one year by one independent examiner using explorers and CPITN probes. Survival rates were determined by the resultant score of the codes and criteria used in the evaluation of the ART restorations.
Results: Retention and marginal integrity in ART restorations which were placed over dentine conditioners appeared better than those without conditioners after 1 year. The differences were statistically significant (p<0.05). There was however no difference in the chosen parameters between the mandible and the maxilla (p>0.05).The success rate of one-surface ART restorations with or without dentine conditioners is 91.0% after one year review.
Conclusion: The ART approach was shown to provide restorative dental care outside the traditional setting.