Atraumatic restorative treatment and dental anxiety in outpatients attending public oral health clinics in South Africa.

OBJECTIVES: This study was undertaken to test the hypotheses that using the atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) approach results in lower patient anxiety and that lower anxiety leads to higher restoration/extraction ratios. METHODS: The test group of dental operators (n = 9) was trained in ART The control group (n = 11) was not, and did not apply ART The Short Form of the Dental Subscale of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-SF) and Corah's Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) were used to assess patient anxiety after ART (test group) and after traditional restorations (control group). The restoration/extraction ratio calculated for primary (children) and permanent dentitions (adults) per operator was based on 12-month treatment statistics. Dental anxiety assessments were analysed using ANOVA. Differences were compared using the t-test and corrected for confounding factors (ANCOVA). The Pearson correlation coefficient was used to measure the correlation between dental anxiety levels and restoration/extraction ratios. RESULTS: The mean CFSS-SF score for test-group children was statistically significantly lower than for the control-group children. The mean DAS score for test-group adults was statistically significant lower than the control. No significant correlation was observed between dental anxiety level and restoration/extraction ratio per operator for both dentitions in both groups. Conclusion: The first hypothesis was accepted; the second, rejected. Although dental anxiety scores were lower both in child and in adult patients treated by ART than in those who received traditional restorative treatments, this positive effect had not resulted in higher restoration/extraction ratios