RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Most dental treatment for children in the United Kingdom (UK) is provided by general dental practitioners (GDPs) working in the National Health Service (NHS). A working party of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry, in a special publication from the Dental Practice Board, has suggested that failure to provide restorative care for the deciduous dentition is unacceptable, yet GDPs are filling fewer teeth in young children. The study aimed to evaluate the health outcomes obtained from restoring carious deciduous molar teeth. METHOD: The dental records of 677 children cared for by 50 GDPs in the north west of England were analysed. RESULTS: The results showed that 18.8% of deciduous molars with unrestored caries and 17.0% with a history of restorative care went on to be extracted because of pain or sepsis. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the risk of carious deciduous molars being extracted is similar whether these teeth receive restorative care or not.
