Over the past 20 years some confusion has
arisen as to what constitutes the atraumatic
restorative treatment (ART) approach
since a number of authors use the term to
describe procedures that are not considered
to be ART. To avoid confusion a recent definition
by Frencken and van Amerongen
should be adopted as follows: ‘ART is a
minimally invasive approach to both prevent
dental caries and to stop its further
progression. It consists of two components:
sealing caries prone pits and fissures and
restoring cavitated dentin lesions with sealant-restorations.
The placement of an ART
sealant involves the application of a highviscosity
glass-ionomer that is pushed into
the pits and fissures under finger pressure.
An ART restoration involves the removal
of soft, completely demineralised carious
tooth tissue with hand instruments. This is
followed by restoration of the cavity with
an adhesive dental material that simultaneously
seals any remaining pits and fissures
that remain at risk