Comparison of High Viscosity Glass Ionomer Cement and Alkasite as Restorative Material for Atraumatic Restorative Treatment- A Randomized Controlled Trial with Split Mouth Design

AIM: To assess and compare the clinical performance of High Viscosity Glass Ionomer Cement (HV-GIC) and Alkasite as a restorative material for Atraumatic Restorative Treatment in primary molars. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty children with bilateral class I cavities (n- 60) were selected and randomly allocated to Group- 1 Alkasite and Group- 2 High Viscosity-Glass Ionomer Cement (HV-GIC). Restoration were evaluated at the 3rd and 6th months through Modified USPHS criteria (1980) and Modified Clinical criteria (1996). Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher’s exact test and Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 26.0. RESULTS: Restorations evaluated using modified USPHS criteria scored either Alpha (successful) or Bravo (clinically acceptable). At the 6th month follow-up 100% (n = 30) alpha score was obtained in criteria like Fracture, Secondary Caries, Post-operative sensitivity, Surface roughness, and Retention. Under Anatomic form and Marginal adaptation categories, the HV-GIC group scored 100% (n= 30) alpha and the Alkasite group scored 90% (n= 27) alpha at both 3rd and 6th month follow-up but this difference was statistically insignificant (p > 0.05). Additionally, score 0 (restorations present and good) was obtained in Modified Clinical Criteria for Evaluations of ART for all 30 (100%) restorations in HV-GIC group and 27 restorations (90%) in the Alkasite group at the end of 6 months (p> 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that both HV-GIC and Alkasite had clinically acceptable outcomes in restoring dental cavities using Atraumatic Restorative Treatment for primary molars.