A two-year clinical study of light-cured composite and amalgam restorations in primary molars

The object of this prospective study was to compare the clinical behavior of composite and amalgam restorations with respect to anatomical form, marginal adaptation, caries adjacent to margin, and post-operative sensitivity. We selected children (n = 43) with an average age of 6.4 yr exhibiting proximal caries lesions in primary molars distributed on both left and right sides. In each child, one amalgam and one composite side were randomly chosen, resulting in 64 fillings for composite and 55 for amalgam. After a two-year period, significantly (p less than 0.05) more composite fillings (88%) were clinically classified as satisfactory compared with amalgam fillings (68%). No significant relationship was found between the success rate of proximal fillings and the caries activity of the individuals. The results indicate that composite can be used successfully as a class II filling material in primary molars in children.