Clinical and Radiographic Comparison of SMART Hall and Conventional Hall Techniques in Children With Carious Primary Molars

Brief Summary Dental caries is one of the most common chronic diseases affecting children, particularly in primary molars, and may lead to pain, impaired function, reduced quality of life, and an increased risk of caries in permanent teeth. Managing caries in young children can be challenging because of behavioral and developmental factors, highlighting the need for minimally invasive, child-friendly treatment approaches. The Hall Technique is an effective minimally invasive approach that uses stainless steel crowns to seal carious primary molars without caries removal, tooth preparation, or local anesthesia. It has demonstrated high clinical success and good patient acceptance. However, concerns remain regarding the activity of residual bacteria within deeper carious lesions. The Silver-Modified Atraumatic Restorative Technique (SMART) incorporates silver diamine fluoride (SDF), which has antibacterial and remineralizing properties, before restoration and sealing. This may provide additional caries-arresting and antibacterial benefits compared with the conventional Hall Technique. Although both techniques have shown promising clinical outcomes, there is limited evidence directly comparing the SMART Hall technique with the conventional Hall Technique, particularly regarding long-term clinical and radiographic outcomes. Therefore, the proposed study aims to evaluate whether adding SDF to the Hall Technique improves treatment success in carious primary molars. The findings may help identify an effective, minimally invasive, and child-friendly approach for managing dental caries in pediatric patients.