Summary of: The survival of Class V restorations in general dental practice. Part 2, early failure

• Published in: British dental journal Vol. 210; no. 11; pp. 530 - 531
• Main Author: Youngson, C.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 10.06.2011; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 631/61/54/990; 692/1537; 692/700; Dental Restoration Failure; Dental Restoration, Permanent; Dentistry; Female; General Practice, Dental; Humans; Male; Medicine; research-summary
• ISSN: 0007-0610; 1476-5373
• DOI: 10.1038/sj.bdj.2011.460

Key Points Demonstrates the value of practice-based research to provide evidence from the 'real-life' clinical environment. The biggest influence on early failure of Class V restorations was the clinician who placed the restoration. The results suggest that good handling of restorative materials is more important than the type of material chosen. Some materials are less user-friendly than has been suggested. Objective To evaluate Class V restorations placed by UK general practitioners comparing those failing or surviving after two years, and to identify factors associated with early failure. Design Prospective longitudinal cohort multi-centre study. Setting UK general dental practices. Materials & methods Ten dentists each placed 100 Class V restorations and recorded selected clinical information at placement and recall visits. Univariate associations were assessed between recorded clinical factors and whether restorations had failed or not at two years. Multi-variable binary logistic regression was also undertaken to identify which combination of factors had a significant effect on the probability of early failure. Results At two years, 156 of 989 restorations had failed (15.8%), with 40 (4%) lost to follow-up. Univariate analysis showed a significant association between restoration failure and increasing patient age, payment method, the treating practitioner, non-carious cavities, cavities involving enamel and dentine, cavity preparation and restoration material. Multi-variable analysis indicated a higher probability of early failure associated with the practitioner, older patients, glass ionomer and flowable composite, bur-preparation and moisture contamination. Conclusions Among these practitioners, both analytic methods identified significant associations between early failure of Class V restorations and the practitioner, cavity preparation method, restoration material and patient's age.