The provision of resin-bonded bridgework within the General Dental Services 1987-1997

The purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of resin-bonded bridgework provided within the General Dental Services of the National Health Service. The basic procedure involved analysis of data collected from the administering authorities in England, Wales and Scotland between 1987 and 1997. These figures included the cost of the provision of such bridgework and the incidence and cost of refitting bridges which had become debonded in service. The investigation found that while the number of resin-bonded bridges provided had peaked in the early 1990s the number of claims for rebonding was still increasing at a high rate. In the most recent year of the study (1996/97) the number of claims for rebonding bridges was 50% more than the number of bridges actually fitted during that year. It was concluded that resin-bonded bridgework provided under the General Dental Services of the National Health Service was experiencing a high failure rate and that this problem was worthy of further investigation.