The value of extended-setting-time amalgam in pre-clinical practice in undergraduate dental training

This is a single-blind controlled study investigating the advantages of extended-setting time dental amalgam compared to a standard amalgam in the training of undergraduate dental students. 50 dental students were randomly assigned 1 of the 2 alloys for each restoration placed in the study. Each student placed class I and class II restorations in extracted human teeth mounted in typodont arches. 449 completed restorations were available for assessment, 228 restorations in the experimental group and 221 restorations in the control group. The test restorations were overall marginally inferior to those of the control group. There appears to be no advantage in using extended-setting time dental amalgam in undergraduate training.