Attitudes of Greek dentists towards repair of conservative restorations. An online survey.

OBJECTIVES: Repair versus replacement of a defective direct restoration is one important step for conserving tooth structure. This study was designed to collect information on the attitudes of Greek dentists towards repairing direct restorations. METHODS: An electronic questionnaire with 16 multiple-choice and rank-ordering questions was created online and its URL address was randomly emailed to 800 dentists in the area of Athens, Greece. The questionnaire remained open for 3 months, and after two reminder emails the data collected were analysed statistically to identify differences between clinician's sex or years of practicing dentistry, using the chi-square and Kruskal-Wallis tests at alpha = 0.05. RESULTS: Three-hundred and twenty dentists completed and submitted the questionnaire (response rate = 40%). A high proportion (86.8%) of the respondents reported that they routinely repair defective restorations, ranking the order of their frequency as 2.47 for amalgam and 2.41 for resin restorations. The reasons, with the highest ranks, for repairing amalgams were the restoration of bulk fractures (4.10) and restoration of marginal fractures (3.69). For repair of resin restorations, the reasons with the highest ranks were improving their colour (4.04) and removing marginal discoloration (3.99). Moreover, 94.1% of the respondents stated that they were enough, much and very much satisfied with the repair, 1 year after it was performed. CONCLUSIONS: A high percentage of Greek dentists are repairing defective direct restorations. There are discrepancies in the indications, techniques and materials used for repairs, such as bulk fractures and marginal restorations. Further studies on the efficacy of repairs, the criteria and procedure protocols are needed. Further, additional clinical education should be offered at the undergraduate or continuing education levels.