Three-year clinical evaluation of cuspal coverage with combined composite–amalgam in endodontically-treated maxillary premolars

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

The authors of this audit suggest that this 'one-appointment combined restoration technique ... yielded clinically acceptable results...'.

Main

Shafiei F, Memarpour M et al. Oper Dent 2010; 35-6: 599–604

Thirty-six upper premolar teeth were restored using an open sandwich technique. This comprised first placing resin composite to restore the non-functional cusp, including the dental aesthetic, and then amalgam to replace the functional cusp. It is suggested that this order of placement allowed the amalgam to 'intermix' with the air-inhibited composite layer. All teeth had been root-treated with 'relatively intact' buccal and palatal cusps. There was no control group. At one, two and three year recalls, 33 teeth were evaluated using the well established US Public Health Service (USPHS) Guidelines. It is reported that this technique had a favourable outcome although about 10% of patients complained of tooth discolouration and sometimes the interface between the resin composite and amalgam was less than ideal.