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Reis A, Loguercioa AD et al. Dent Mater 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.dental.2015.06.001

The United Nations Environment Programme in concert with other august bodies, have advocated a 'phasing down' rather than a 'phasing out' of dental amalgam. A pragmatic approach, but this can only be achieved if the properties of alternative materials are improved. This meta-analysis examined only the characteristic of post-operative sensitivity, following two different regimens for the placement of resin composite restorations. Such sensitivity has usually been attributed to the etch-and-rinse system (total-etch) based on phosphoric acid. Then there are the self-etch adhesives containing acidic monomers when the tooth is etched and primed at the same time. In this study, 2,600 publications were retrieved of which 13 were analysed. There was no difference in post-operative sensitivity between the etch-and-rinse system and self-etch system. And the relative risk (when a relative risk of 1 means there is no difference between teeth restored with resin composite and the control material) of postoperative sensitivity was 0.99 (95% CI 0.63 to 1.56, or 95% 'sure it lies between these values').