Decisions of practitioners regarding placement of amalgam and composite restorations in general practice settings

This study was undertaken to analyze the current reasons practitioners in general practice settings choose to place amalgam and composite restorations. Data were gathered on individual restorations in the clinical setting to provide information on reasons practitioners state that restorations are placed, the type of material most often placed in different restoration classifications, and the age of restorations at the time of replacement. The results of this study indicate that approximately one-half of all restorations, both amalgam and composite, were placed to treat primary caries. One-half of the remaining restorations placed, i.e., not including those with primary caries, were placed to treat recurrent caries. With respect to restorative materials, amalgam was most often placed in class 1 and class 2 situations (88.9% of the amalgam restorations reported), while composite was most often placed in class 3, 4, or 5 situations (77.4% of the composite restorations reported). From the total data set returned for replaced restorations, only 20% of the data forms reported on verified longevity of the restoration being replaced. Analysis of these data gave a calculated median longevity for amalgam and composite restorations of 10 years and 5 years respectively.