An Assessment of Direct Restorative Material Use in Posterior Teeth by American and Canadian Pediatric Dentists: I. Material Choice.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to assess the preferences of pediatric dentists in Canada and the United States about clinical decision-making related to the placement of direct restorative materials.

METHODS: A cross-sectional web-based survey was used to collect the preference of all active pediatric members of the Royal College of Dentists of Canada and the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry on the use of direct restorative materials in posterior teeth in healthy, developmentally delayed (DD), and medically compromised (MC) children. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine the association between the predictor variables and all materials at two-tailed P<0.05.

RESULTS: A response rate of 19.3 percent (n equals 762) was achieved. For DD patients, stainless steel crowns were the most preferred material for primary teeth, and a similar frequency of amalgam and composite were preferred for permanent teeth. Amalgam usage was increasingly preferred in the DD population versus healthy and MC patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Composite resin was the most preferred restoration for Class I, II, and V restorations in primary and permanent teeth in healthy and medically compromised individuals. In DD individuals, stainless steel crowns and amalgam were preferred more frequently.