To explore the effect of atraumatic restorative treatment (ART) for deciduous tooth caries in children. Methods A total of 84 children with deciduous tooth caries admitted to our hospital from June 2022 to June 2023 were selected as the research objects. They were divided into control group and observation group by random number table method, with 42 children in each group. The control group was treated with traditional repair techniques, and the observation group was treated with ART. The clinical effects, inflammatory factor levels, repair treatment time, immediate VAS score after treatment, filler shedding status, and parents' satisfaction were compared between the two groups. Results The total effective rate of the observation group was 92.86%, which was higher than 73.81% of the control group (P <0.05). The levels of TNF-α, hs-CRP and IL-6 in the observation group were lower than those in the control group after 3 days of treatment (P <0.05). The repair treatment time of the observation group was shorter than that of the control group, and the VAS score immediately after treatment was lower than that of the control group (P <0.05). The complete retention rate of the observation group was higher than that of the control group, and the partial shedding and complete shedding rates were lower than those of the control group at 6 months after treatment (P <0.05). The parents' satisfaction rate in the observation group was higher than that in the control group (P <0.05). Conclusion For deciduous tooth caries in children, ART can improve the clinical efficacy, help to reduce the pain level, inhibit the inflammatory response, prevent the fillings from falling off, and the parents' satisfaction is high.