Restorative treatment decisions on approximal caries in Norway

A random sample of dentists in Norway were asked which radiographic criteri on for assessing the initiation of restorative treatment of approximal cari es they would use, and which type of cavity preparation and filling materia l they would prefer for a distal lesion on an upper second premolar. Only 1 9 per cent stated that they would treat approximal lesions confined to enam el, with 81 per cent opting to wait until lesions had reached dentine, comp ared with 66 per cent in a similar study performed in 1983. The tunnel prep aration was cited most often as the preparation of choice (47.3 per cent), while 28.2 per cent preferred traditional class II preparations and 24.3 pe r cent a saucer shaped preparation. Only 15.5 per cent of the dentists chos e amalgam as the restorative, 15.8 per cent composite, 22.3 per cent a conv entional glass ionomer cement, 7.2 per cent a resin modified glass ionomer cement and 22.4 per cent a combination of glass ionomer and composite. Ther e has been a shift in operative treatment criteria among the majority of de ntists in Norway from 1983 to 1995, with most now waiting until the lesion is diagnosed in dentine radiographically before restoring. Most dentists pr efer new preparation techniques for approximal caries using tooth coloured materials. Only every fifth dentist has amalgam as a first choice for appro ximal restorations in the posterior region.