ABSTRACT
Introduction: Fear and anxiety are part of all human experiences and they may contribute directly to a patients behavior. The Atraumatic Restorative Treatment (ART) is a technique that may be an alternative approach intreating special care patients or those who suffer fear or anxiety. Objective: the aim of this paper is to review the ART technique as an alternative to reduce pain and fear during dental treatment. Materials and method: A searchfor the term "atraumatic restorative treatment" was carried out in the MEDLINE search engine. References, fromthe last 10 years, containing at least one of the terms: "psychological aspects", "discomfort", "fear", "anxiety" or "pain", were selected. Results: A total of 120 references were found, from which only 17 fit the criteria. Discussion: All authors agreedthat the ART promotes less discomfort for patients, contributing to a reduction of anxiety and fear during thedental treatment. Results also indicated that ART minimizes pain reported by patients. Conclusions: The ART approachcan be considered as having favorable characteristics for the patient, promoting an "atraumatic" treatment.This technique may be indicated for patients who suffer from fear or anxiety towards dental treatments and whosebehavior may cause the treatment to become unfeasible or even impossible altogether (AU)
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