Evaluation of the Occlusal Effects of the Hall Technique and Investigation of Children's Satisfaction

Background: The Hall Technique (HT) is a non-invasive, easily applicable minimally invasive dentistry approach for managing dental caries in children. It involves placing a preformed metal crown over a tooth with decay, to seal it in and stop the decay from progressing. However, it alters the occlusion as no tooth substance is removed to make space for the crown. Objective: This study, aims to evaluate the effects of Hall Technique on occlusion in children, to assess whether there are any adverse effects on the temporomandibular joint and masseter muscles, related to changes on occlusion and to evaluate the children's perceptions of the crowns. Materials and Methods: A total of 37 children aged 5-9 years, who have not been treated with the Hall Technique previously and who have dentinal caries that did not reach the pulp (affecting the occlusal or the occluso-proximal surfaces) in their primary molars, will be invited to participate in the study. At the first visit, clinical examination will be carried out and intraoral impressions will be taken for pre-treatment evaluation. The occlusal vertical dimension of the teeth will be measured clinically with callipers. Temporomandibular joint and masseter muscles will be examined clinically. Then, the Hall Technique crown will be placed to treat the carious tooth, the impressions taken again, and measurements repeated. At one and three months following treatment with the crown, the participant will have the measurements repeated. The child and parent will complete a questionnaire after 3 months on their perception of the crown. In the data analysis, frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation analyses will be used for demographic data and description of the clinical data. In numerical data analysis, t-test or Mann-Whitney U test will be used according to the data distribution. Geomagic software will be used to analyse sequential study models of the teeth to measure relative changes in the tooth positions over tim