Comparison of hall technique and modified hall technique in deep carious deciduous molars: A randomised clinical study

The aim of this thesis is to compare the clinical and radiographic success of Hall Technique (HT) and modified HT in deep carious deciduous molars. The study included 268 deeply decayed deciduous molars without clinical and radiographic signs and symptoms associated with irreversible pulp pathology in 189 children aged 3-10 years who presented to Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Dental Practice and Research Centre. Teeth were randomly assigned to one of the HT (n=134) and modified HT (n=134) groups. In the HT group, food or debris was removed from the carious cavity, but carious tissue was not removed. In the modified HT group, necrotic and contaminated carious dentin layer was removed with excavators up to soft dentin. The treated teeth were evaluated clinically and radiographically at 3, 6 and 12 months and recorded as successful, minor failure or major failure. IBM SPSS Statistics 22.0 programme was used for data analysis. Statistical significance level p<0.05 was accepted. The success rates in HT and modified HT groups were 97.0% and 98.5% at 3 months, 94.7% and 97.6% at 6 months, and 91.3% and 94.8% at 12 months, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between HT and modified HT in terms of 3rd, 6th and 12th month treatment results. In the HT group, the difference between the 3rd and 12th month treatment results was found to be significant. In this group, it was observed that the success rate decreased over time and the major failure rate increased. According to the 12th month treatment results in the HT group, the success rate was found to be higher in the teeth with stainless steel crown (SSC) compliance and the major failure rate was higher in the teeth with incompatible SSC. According to the 12-month treatment results in the modified HT group, the minor failure rate was significantly higher in the first molars and the success rate was significantly higher in the second molars. In our study, both HT and modified HT were found to be successful in the treatment of deciduous molars with deep caries. While the difference observed in the success rate in the modified HT group over time was not statistically significant, a statistically significant decrease in the success rate was detected in the HT group during the follow-up period. Long-term follow-up results are necessary to determine which of HT and modified HT is more successful in deep decayed deciduous teeth.