Abstract
BackgroundWomen tend to delay dental treatment due to misconceptions regarding the safety of dental procedures during pregnancy which may negatively affect their quality of life. Minimally invasive restorative techniques offer alternatives for caries treatment and can improve their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) during this stage.MethodsA randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted in 2019 and included 162 pregnant women visiting public family health centers in Alexandria, Egypt, with mild to moderate dental pain due to caries. Participants were randomly assigned into Papacarie-Duo group (n = 82) and ART group (n = 80). The outcome variable was percent change in OHRQoL (oral health impact profile, OHIP-14) after 6 months. T test/Mann Whitney U test were used to compare groups and a multivariable linear regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the factors affecting the outcome variable.ResultsA significant reduction (P < 0.002) was noted in OHIP-14 between baseline and 6 months indicating improvement in OHRQoL in the Papacarie-Duo and ART groups (16.26% and 18.91%, P = 0.120 in bivariate analysis). Multiple linear regression revealed significantly greater reduction in OHIP-14 scores in the Papacarie-Duo than the ART group (regression coefficient = 4.03, 95% confidence interval: 0.652, 7.409, P = 0.020).ConclusionMinimally invasive restorative techniques, such as ART and chemo-mechanical caries removal using Papacarie- Duo can improve the OHRQoL of pregnant women suffering from mild to moderate pain due to dental caries. Significantly more improvement was noted in the Papacarie-Duo group after adjusting all other variables.Trial registration ID NCT04619264 (https://clinicaltrials.gov/); November 6 2020, retrospective registration. (https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04619264?term=NCT04619264&draw=2&rank=1)
Highlights
Women tend to delay dental treatment due to misconceptions regarding the safety of dental procedures during pregnancy which may negatively affect their quality of life
Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) was included in the Basic Package of Oral Care in public oral health services in Tanzania, South Africa and Latin America because of its low cost and acceptance by patients compared to conventional treatment involving anesthetic injections and drilling [4]
Study design This study was conducted as part of a randomized, two parallel-arms, controlled clinical trial assessing the impact of the two treatment modalities on dental pain among pregnant women attending family health units/ centers in Alexandria, Egypt, from January to October 2019
Summary
Women tend to delay dental treatment due to misconceptions regarding the safety of dental procedures during pregnancy which may negatively affect their quality of life. Invasive restorative techniques offer alternatives for caries treatment and can improve their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) during this stage. ART was included in the Basic Package of Oral Care in public oral health services in Tanzania, South Africa and Latin America because of its low cost and acceptance by patients compared to conventional treatment involving anesthetic injections and drilling [4]. Another non-invasive technique is the chemo-mechanical caries removal using agents to eliminate infected tissue while maintaining healthy tooth structure without pulp irritation or discomfort. Papacarie-Duo, the newest version of Papacarie, was developed in 2011 and has improved properties including extended durability, no need for refrigeration and higher viscosity [6]
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