title: Acceptability of different caries management methods for primary molars in a RCT.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  More conservative techniques for managing dental caries including 'partial' and 'no caries removal' have been increasingly of interest.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To compare children's behaviour and pain perception, also technique acceptability (parents and dentists), when approximal dentinal lesions (ICDAS 3-5) in primary molars (3-8-year-olds) were managed with three treatment strategies; conventional restorations (CR), hall technique (HT), and non-restorative caries treatment (NRCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  Secondary care-based, three-arm parallel-group, randomised controlled trial, with 169 participants treated by 12 dentists.
  
  
  METHODS
  child's pain perception (Visual Analogue Scale of Faces); behaviour (Frankl scale); and parents' and dentists' treatment opinions (5-point Likert scales).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Children showed more negative behaviour in the CR group (37%) compared to NRCT (21%) and HT (13%) (P = 0.047, CI = 0.41 to 0.52). Pain intensity was rated 'very low' or 'low' in 88% NRCT, 81% HT, and 72% CR (P = 0.11, CI = 0.10 to 0.12). NRCT and HT were 'very easy' or 'easy' to perform for >77% of dentists, compared to 50% in CR group (P < 0.000). There were no statistically significant differences in parents' rating of their child's level of comfort (P = 0.46, CI = 0.45 to 0.48).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Dentists reported more negative behaviour in CR group. For all techniques, children's pain perception and dentist/parent acceptability were similar.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive and Pediatric Dentistry, Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany.
authors.forename: Ruth M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Santamaria
authors.forename: Nicola P T
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Innes
authors.forename: Vita
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Machiulskiene
authors.forename: Dafydd J P
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Evans
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Alkilzy
authors.forename: Christian H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Splieth
mesh_terms: D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019140:Dental Care for Children / Q000379:methods*; D003731:Dental Caries / Q000628:therapy*; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008963:Molar; D010147:Pain Measurement; D010342:Patient Acceptance of Health Care; D014094:Tooth, Deciduous; D016896:Treatment Outcome