Swedish dentists' decisions on preparation techniques and restorative materials

This study aimed at mapping the preparation techniques and restorative mate rials that Swedish dentists are using for primary approximal and occlusal c arious lesions. It involved sending a pre-coded questionnaire to a random s ample of 923 dentists, with eight items concerning approximal and occlusal restorative preparation techniques and dental materials. Responses were rec eived from 651 (70.5%) dentists. To restore a primary approximal carious le sion in an adolescent with low caries activity and good oral hygiene, the t unnel preparation was chosen by 48% of the dentists, the saucer-shaped prep aration by 32%, and the traditional Class II preparation by 20%. The most c ommon preparation technique for restoring an occlusal carious lesion was re moval of the carious part only, which was chosen by 74% of the dentists. Fo r a lower second molar with a minor occlusal caries lesion combined with a suspected dentin lesion as judged radiographically, about half of the denti sts chose to restore the carious part only and 27% would seal the rest of t he fissure system in addition. For a similar lesion with no obvious radiolu cency in the dentin, about 1/3 chose the 'no treatment' alternative, 1/3 fl uoride treatment, and the rest fissure sealing or other techniques. Composi te was used most often and amalgam least often for both approximal and occl usal carious lesions.