PLACEMENT AND REPLACEMENT OF AMALGAM RESTORATIONS IN GERMANY

From 15 September to 15 October 1991, 102 dentists practicing in a rur al area of Germany provided information on 5240 amalgam restorations. The aim of the present cross-sectional study was to investigate the re asons for placement and replacement of amalgam fillings and to registe r the age of the failed restorations. First placements because of prim ary caries were made in 47.1% of all cases; 52.9% were replacements of failed restorations. The most frequently recorded reason for replacem ent was secondary caries, irrespective of size of the filling, dentiti on, and age group. The second most frequently recorded reasons for rep lacement depended on the size of the filling, the age and the dentitio n of the patient: Bulk fractures were predominant in primary teeth and in fillings with three or four surfaces, primary caries in permanent teeth of patients 16 years old or younger and marginal gaps in adults and in fillings with one or two surfaces. The median age of replaced a malgam restorations in adults was 60 months.