Clinical testing of restorative materials: some historical landmarks

Objectives: The aim ef the study was to review the historical background of the methodologies currently in use for clinical investigations of contempo rary tooth coloured dental restorative materials and techniques, and to att empt to identify the likely general direction of such research projects in the future. Data sources: Published articles obtained as a result of a wide ranging lit erature search of both dental and medical journals. Study selection: Historical and contemporary accounts of clinical trial man agement, upon which an overview of the key events important in the evolutio n of clinical methods of evaluation of dental restorative materials, and a prediction of possible future trends in this ar ea, could be based. Conclusions: Publication of dental restoratives clinical research has not k ept up with that in medicine, where editors of leading journals require tha t clinical trials be run in accordance with the Consolidated Standards of R eporting Trials (CONSORT) guidelines. The current trend towards evidence ba sed treatment in dentistry can be expected to initiate more statistically p owerful clinical studies of dental restoratives, and the merit of involving general dentists in practice based research can also be anticipated to bec ome increasingly recognised in the future. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. A ll rights reserved.