Selection of restorative materials in dental treatment of children and adults in public and private dental care in Finland.

To obtain information on the present selection of dental restorative materials and factors related to it, questionnaires were sent to a random sample of public health centres (47) and private dental practitioners (716) in May 1992. The dentists were asked to collect information on all fillings they placed during 3 and 1 working days, respectively. The study material consisted of 9886 fillings placed by 855 dentists. Glass ionomer was the major filling material in children younger than 17 years, ninety-one per cent of the fillings in deciduous teeth and 47% of those in permanent teeth were inserted using that material. In adults, composite was the most frequently used material, fifty-two per cent of the fillings placed by private practitioners and 43% of those placed in health centres. In total, amalgam was used in 15% of fillings placed for patients 0-16 years old and in 29% of fillings in adults. The results show that in children, glass ionomer is the most frequently used filling material and the use of amalgam is very limited. In adults as well, amalgam seems to be increasingly replaced by other filling materials.