A prospective study of the survival of chemically activated anterior resin composite restorations in general dental practice: 5-year results.

The principals of 26 general dental practices agreed to use six chemically activated resin composite restorative materials to restore Class III and Class V lesions and record information concerning their performance over a period of 5 years. The information collected was analysed by actuarial methods to assess the clinical longevity and reasons for replacement as perceived by the dentists operating in the General Dental Service in England. At the end of 5 years, 14 dentists provided sufficient returns for their data to be considered suitable for analysis. The database consisted of 2399 Class III and 1093 Class V restorations. The overall probability of survival at 5 years of Class III and Class V restorations was 62.9% and 71.8% respectively. The difference in performance between the six restorative materials was small, with the probability of survival varying from 70.4 +/- 2.9% to 56.3 +/- 2.9% for the Class III restorations and 78.6 +/- 3.7% to 67.7 +/- 4.2% for the Class V restorations. The main reasons for replacement were general surface discoloration, secondary caries and fracture. The chemically activated composite restorative materials available at the time of initiating this study produced comparable performances in general dental practice when used without enamel and dentine bonding techniques. This suggests that more general practice-based clinical studies are needed to determine whether or not improvements in materials and techniques are effectively transferred to the general practice situation.