Long-term survival and cost-effectiveness of five dental restorative materials used in various classes of cavity preparations.

This retrospective study examined the survival and cost-effectiveness of five different types of dental materials used to restore various classes of cavity preparations in permanent teeth. Information on the restorations was obtained from the casenote records of 100 long-term adult patients treated at various times by 20 dentists in three city practices. Patients attended for checkups and restorative treatments on a regular basis for around 25 years on average, ranging from 10 to 46 years. All of the restorative materials lasted well, despite the frequent patient checkups and changes of dentists. Cusp-covered amalgams were approximately 3.8 times more cost-effective than were either cast gold or ceramometal crowns, and resin composites were approximately 3.7 times more cost-effective than were cast gold inlays for restoring Class IV preparations. However, there were no significant differences found in the cost-effectiveness of using either resin composites or glass-ionomer cements to restore Class III preparations, or between using either of these two materials, or amalgams, to restore Class V preparations.