The survival of Class V restorations in general dental practice. Part 1, baseline data

Key Points Class V cavities are multifactorial in origin. Practitioners are faced with a multitude of possible restorative materials and techniques from which to choose. General dental practitioners need guidance as to which material is the most effective for restoring Class V cavities. Practice-based research provides evidence derived from real-life situations. Objective Evidence on the survival of different restorations in general practice is scarce and so to address this need, a study was designed to monitor the outcome of Class V restorations placed in UK general practices. Design Prospective longitudinal cohort multi-centre study. Setting UK general dental practice. Materials and methods Ten UK dentists each placed 100 Class V restorations and recorded selected clinical information at placement and at recall visits on record cards. Dentists selected materials and techniques which they felt appropriate to each clinical situation. Results Data cards for 11 restorations were incorrectly completed or information was missing leaving 989 for analysis. The majority of restorations were placed in patients between 51 and 60 years of age, in canines or premolars (68.4%) and under private contract (63%). Composite (40.85%) and compomer (23.46%) were the most frequently placed materials overall but were not the most frequently placed restorative by some dentists. Conclusions Different dentists use different methods to manage Class V lesions but each dentist tends to use one restorative material predominantly. There is a degree of overlap among practitioners in the materials which they employ, but clear preferences were displayed in the materials used and handling techniques.