RESUMEN
To determine the prevalence of dentinal lesions treatable through the atraumatic restorative treatment [ART] approach for high caries risk schoolchildren. Subjects and A convenience sample was taken of 1,542 grade 1 and 931 grade 2 children from 21 primary schools in a low socio-economic area in Damascus. Dentinal lesions in which the smallest excavator [diameter of 0.9 mm] could enter the cavitated lesion were considered treatable using the ART approach. Mann-Whitney U and ANOVA tests were used to analyse the data. The mean dmfs and dmft scores of the 6- to 7-year-olds [grade 1] were 9.0 and 4.4, respectively. The mean DMFS and DMFT scores of the 7- to 8-year-olds [grade 2] were 1.6 and 1.4, respectively. At least 89.9 and 54.9% of the dentinal lesions in the deciduous and permanent dentition that were in need of a restoration, respectively, were diagnosed as treatable using ART. A high proportion of dentinal lesions in need of restorations in both deciduous and permanent dentitions in this high caries risk group of 6- to 8-year-olds were diagnosed as being treatable using the ART approach