Placement and replacement of dental restorations

To determine the types of various dental restorative materials used, and the reasons for the placement and replacement of dental restorations in 10 randomly selected polyclinics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

A cross-sectional descriptive study.

Ten selected polyclinics in Riyadh metropolitan area, Saudi Arabia during a period of two weeks in January 2003.

Information was collected by using a specially-designed form that was distributed to one dentist in each selected polyclinic. The dentists were asked to record specific details for all restorations placed in adult patients. Chi-square tests were used to analyze the data.

Data were collected for 326 restorations. Amalgam (52.5%) was the most commonly used restorative material followed by resin composite (31.3%) and temporary restorations (14.4%), with a minimal use of glass ionomer cement (1.8%, p<0.001). Most of the restorations (69.9%) were initial placements, while 30.1% were replacement restorations, (p<0.05). Caries was the major reason for the initial placement (92.1%), and for the subsequent replacement (96.9%) of restorations.

Amalgam and resin composite were the most commonly used restorative materials. Caries was the major reason for the initial restoration placements and subsequent replacements.