Evaluation of success of stainless steel crowns placed using the hall technique in children with high caries risk: A randomized clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to compare the clinical efficacy and survival rates of the hall technique (HT), and conventional restoration (CR) for the management of occlusoproximal carious lesions in primary molars.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: This clinical study observed 35 children (aged 4-8 years). Exclusion criteria included symptoms of pulpal or periradicular pathology or systemic conditions requiring special dental considerations. For each child, at least one tooth was treated with HT and one with CR. The primary outcome measures were minor and major clinical failure rates. Plaque and gingival scores of the teeth were also evaluated. Friedman test and Wilcoxon signed ranks test were used to compare the plaque and gingival index scores for each arm. Chi-square tests were used for comparisons of clinical outcomes, plaque-gingival index, and distribution of ICDAS categories among treatment arms (P < 0.05).

RESULTS: Thirty-three of 35 (94.2%) participants returned for 1-year follow-up. HT showed statistically significantly higher treatment survival rate and fewer minor failures than CR (P = 0.040). The rate of major failures was minimal (2 of 84 teeth) and did not differ between treatments (P = 0.092). In both treatment groups, the gingival score and plaque score were significantly decreased at the 1-year follow-up (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSION: HT was a more successful method for managing caries in primary molars than CR, both for symptoms of pulpal disease and longevity of the restorations. HT is a simplified method of managing carious primary molars using SSCs cemented with no local anesthesia, caries removal, or tooth preparation.