Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40084561›Full record

ArticleAustralian dental journal2025

Cost-effectiveness of atraumatic restorative treatment combined with the Hall Technique for managing dental caries in remote Indigenous children.

U Tonmukayakul, S Kularatna, S Piggott, D Atkinson, D Brennan, L Jamieson, P Arrow

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In one paragraph

Article in Australian dental journal, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

U TonmukayakulDeakin Health Economics, Institute for Health Transformations, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-6464-744X
S KularatnaAustralian Centre for Health Services Innovation, School of Public Health and Social Work, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
S PiggottWestern Australia Dental Health Services, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
D AtkinsonRural Clinical School of Western Australia, University of Western Australia, Broome, Western Australia, Australia.
D BrennanAustralian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-7888-0920
L JamiesonAustralian Research Centre for Population Oral Health, Adelaide Dental School, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.ORCID 0000-0001-9839-9280
P ArrowWestern Australia Dental Health Services, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.

Funding

Colgate Oral Care AustraliaNational Health and Medical Research Council APP11211982Western Australia Dental Health Services
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIndigenous children in remote Australia face significant disparities in oral health and have limited access to dental care. This study evaluated the cost-effectiveness of Atraumatic Restorative Treatment combined with the Hall Technique (ART-HT) compared to usual care.

methodsA cost-effectiveness analysis using data from a 1-year ART-HT trial estimated dental caries status and costs from a health-provider perspective. Two scenarios were examined: (1) actual treatment costs and (2) minimum dental services. The incremental cost per decayed, missing, and filled teeth (dmft) prevented was calculated in AUD 2021 prices. A probabilistic sensitivity analysis was conducted.

resultsAmong 228 children (ART-HT = 122; usual care = 106), deterministic analysis showed ART-HT required additional costs of $59.54 and $72.37 for scenarios 1 and 2, with 0.90 dmft prevented. Probabilistic sensitivity analysis revealed ART-HT resulted in better oral health outcomes with a mean dmft prevented of 0.58 (95% uncertainty interval: 0.09 to1.07). The mean additional cost per dmft prevented was $118.50 and $181.84 for scenarios 1 and 2.

conclusionsART-HT effectively managed dental caries in Indigenous children, providing better oral health outcomes compared to usual care, albeit with modest additional costs. This approach may improve access to culturally appropriate dental care in remote communities.

Indexed as

Dental Atraumatic Restorative TreatmentDental CariesDental Restoration, PermanentAustraliaChildChild, PreschoolCost-Benefit AnalysisFemaleHealth Services, IndigenousHumansMaleatraumatic restorative treatmentcost‐effectivenessculturally appropriate caredental caries managementHall TechniqueIndigenous oral healthoral health disparities

Identifiers

PMID40084561
PMCPMC12368307

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.