RECOGNITION OF VENEER RESTORATIONS BY DENTISTS AND BEAUTICIAN STUDENTS

Three types of veneer restorations (VRs) were evaluated for recognitio n by two groups of observers to study the aesthetic result. The differ ent types of VRs were: porcelain, direct resin composite and indirect resin composite. One month after insertion of the VRs, colour transpar encies were made of smiling patients randomly selected from a group of 112 patients participating in a clinical trial. The slides were evalu ated by five dentists who were not familiar with the patients and by 2 5 beautician students (BS). Dentists were asked to locate the VRs whic h were present in the patients and to specify the type of VR. BS were only asked to locate the VRs. To trace a possible relationship between the aesthetic result of the treatment and a number of variables, ANOV A was applied to evaluate the variables: 'discolouration of the teeth' before treatment, 'type of VR' and 'number of VRs'. Agreements in jud gement were expressed in Cohen-Kappa coefficients. The results showed that the dentists could locate the VRs quite well (Kappa coefficient 0 .64 +/- 0.28) but for BS this was lower (Kappa coefficient 0.43 +/- 0. 27). The more VRs were made in one patient, the more difficult it was to locate them correctly. The other variables had no significant effec t on the recognition of the VRs. It was not possible for the dentist o bservers to differentiate between the types of VRs.