Clinical evaluation of amalgam restorations

The good reproducibility of a clinical evaluation system for restorations was confirmed, but the system was not considered suitable for detection of minor differences between amalgam restorations. A modified system for evaluation was therefore developed. It was based on the same principles but included more characteristics. The modified system was evaluated in practice on 246 amalgam restorations. The level of agreement between two examiners reached about 70% after an initial training period. The results demonstrate the need for calibration of examiners and the importance of a detailed definition of criteria.