Comparison of two minimally invasive restorative techniques in improving the oral health-related quality of life of pregnant women: a six months randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: 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. Minimally invasive restorative techniques offer alternatives for caries treatment and can improve their oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) during this stage. METHODS: A 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. RESULTS: A 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). CONCLUSION: Minimally 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 ).

The impact of minimally invasive restorative techniques on perception of dental pain among pregnant women: a randomized controlled clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: The public dental care sector is striving to fulfill the preventive and restorative needs of Egyptians, including pregnant women, who may not receive timely care due to misconceptions about dental treatment during pregnancy. Because of this, they are likely to suffer dental pain, with higher risk of infection affecting their offsprings. AIM OF THE STUDY: To compare the effectiveness of chemo-mechanical caries removal using Papacarie-Duo and Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) in reducing dental pain among pregnant women. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted, in 2019, and included 162 pregnant women visiting family health centers in Alexandria, Egypt, with dental pain due to dental caries not extending to pulp. Patients were randomly assigned to Papacarie-Duo group (n = 82) and ART group (n = 80) after stratification by number of treated surfaces. The outcome variables were reduction in pain assessed using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), satisfaction with treatment, and time taken for dental caries removal. T test/ Mann Whitney U test were used to compare groups and Freidman test was used to compare change across time. RESULTS: Pain reduction was significantly greater in the Papacarie-Duo than the ART group (81.55% and 69.43%, P = 0.001). Patients in the Papacarie-Duo group were significantly more satisfied with treatment than those in the ART, immediately after treatment (mean = 9.60 and 8.00, P = < 0.01) and after 6 months (mean = 9.63 and 8.16, P = < 0.01). Significantly less excavation time was recorded in the Papacarie-Duo group than in the ART group (mean = 10.38 and 11.56 min, P = < 0.01). CONCLUSION: Chemo-mechanical caries removal using Papacarie-Duo is more effective in reducing dental pain, in pregnant women, and is associated with more satisfaction and less excavation time than ART. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ID NCT04573608 ( https://clinicaltrials.gov/ ); 5/10/2020, retrospective registration.