RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) has been used as an adjunct treatment of deep caries lesions; however, studies on the effects of aPDT on the longevity of restorations are still limited. AIM: To evaluate the clinical performance of composite restorations in primary molars subjected to selective caries removal (SCR) associated with aPDT. DESIGN: A randomized clinical trial was designed. Primary molars of patients (mean age 6.15 years) with deep caries lesions without signs and symptoms of pulpal involvement were selected. A total of 64 teeth were randomly divided into groups G1 (SCR, 32 teeth) and G2 (SCR + aPDT, 32 teeth) for treatment, restored with composite, and evaluated after a week (T0 ), 6 months (T1 ), and 12 months (T2 ) according to the criteria of FDI. Groups were compared using the Rao-Scott chi-squared test and the logistic regression analysis for complex designs to account for multiple observations per subject (alpha = 0.05). RESULTS: From all FDI criteria evaluated, the marginal adaptation for the SCR + aPDT group was significantly better in comparison with the SCR group at T0 and T2 in the logistic regression analysis (T0: OR = 0.151; 95% CI = 0.03-0.068, P = .015; and T2: OR = 0.201; 95% CI = 0.05-0.79, P = .022). CONCLUSION: The marginal adaptation of primary molar resin restorations was positively affected by aPDT after 12 months of follow-up.