Good preventive care is a crucial yet simple way of ensuring patients reduce their disease risk. When we get back to 'normal' practice in the future, might the conditions we face from our patients who have waited patiently for care be similar to those UK NHS patients in the mid to late 20th century? Might therefore amalgam make a resurgence as the posterior material of choice for adults? For much of this era, the population had high dental needs due to caries incidence, and a quick, simple method of restoration helped 'fix' the teeth of a large population with lots of cavities. Amalgam use in NHS practice from its inception in 1948 to more recent times has been fairly ubiquitous. Although less aesthetic than composite, very few practitioners would argue against the relative simplicity of placing an amalgam restoration. The study results interestingly also showed a greater survival for amalgam restorations when compared to posterior composites, a result which perhaps suggests the continued usefulness of amalgam as a material of choice for many posterior restorations. However, controlling caries risk will also greatly reduce the chance of restoration failure, but will often need input from both the dentist and the patient, to change harmful dietary behaviours. To provide restorations with a lengthy time span obviously you need to use a good technique with a suitable material choice.
Posterior composites/Glass ionomers 5-8 yearsĬast and metallic ceramic crowns 15-20 years.Īlthough crowns seem to last longest, one needs to remember that crowning a tooth will mean it is further along the restorative cycle and closer to its eventual extraction. A study by Yip and Smales 1 quoted survival rates for restorations placed in general dental practice which included:
they will survive for as long as they can in the very hostile environment of the oral cavity. What we once called permanent restorations are now often correctly called definitive restorations i.e. As dental students we're taught that all restorations have a finite life span.
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