Experiences, Attitudes, and Practices of Resin Infiltration Use in Finland

The aim was to investigate the experiences, attitudes, and practices of resin infiltration (RI) among Finnish dentists.

A Webropol-based questionnaire was sent via the Finnish Dental Association's regular newsletter to all members in April 2022. The questionnaire consisted of nine questions on experiences and opinions concerning RI with fixed options for answers. Additionally, methods that respondents had used for arresting initial caries lesions were asked with a possibility to choose several options. Descriptive analyses were performed using frequencies and proportions. For the analyses, respondents were grouped into RI users and nonusers. To analyze the differences between the groups, cross tabulation with Pearson's chi-squared test or Fisher's exact test were used.

Of the 416 respondents, 32.7% answered that RI is included in their selection of procedures. RI was considered an easy procedure by 46.7% of RI users and 19.9% of nonusers (p < 0.001). The scientific evidence of RI was reported to be promising significantly more often by RI users (41.5%) than nonusers (28.2%) (p < 0.001). Of the RI users, 48.1% thought that RI could be performed by dental hygienists, whereas 16.2% of nonusers thought so (p < 0.001). Of all respondents, approximate 90% instructed patients on better tooth brushing (n = 380), prescribed strong fluoride toothpaste (n = 363), or applied fluoride varnish/gel (n = 368) on the initial lesions for arresting initial caries lesions.

The attitude of those who use RI in their clinical practice was more positive than that of nonusers. This indicates a need for further promotion of this minimally invasive approach to arresting and treating caries.