Abstract
Aim: To study the results of treating carious lesions in primary molars with ozone in anxious children.
Methods: A pilot study was conducted in Volgograd Pediatric Dental Clinic No.2. The study was approved by the Regional Ethics Committee. Informed consent from parents was obtained. In twenty-six 17-51-month-old children (average age 46.2 month) 60 occlusion surfaces of 60 molars diagnosed with ICDAS-II score 3-4 were treated using two methods (a split-mouth design) by an experienced dentist. The conventional invasive method (drilling and filling with glass ionomer cement (GIC) was used in 30 molars (G1), the non-invasive method (gaseous ozone application for 6 seconds and sealing cavitated caries lesions with GIC without excavation of carious dentine) was used in 30 molars (G2). The children were anxious (using the Anxiety Rating Scale and an Uncooperative Behavior Rating Scale) and were judged by the referring dentist as non-treatable. Immediately after the treatment of each tooth a 5-point visual analog scale (VAS) was used to reveal children’s evaluation of the treatment (0 = no discomfort for a child during treatment, 5 = significant discomfort). A chi-squared test was used to compare G1 and G2 results.
Results: Using the VAS, 2 of 30 (6.6%) cases in G1 and 28 of 30 (93.3%) cases in G2 were rated as no discomfort up to mild discomfort. Significant, unacceptable discomfort was recorded for 28 of 30 (93.4%) cases in G1 and 3 of 30 (10%) cases in G2 (Chi square, p<0.05).
Conclusion: Treatment of carious primary molars with ozone is more comfortable for the anxious children as compared with the invasive technique.
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