Use of restorative materials for direct and indirect restorations in posterior teeth by Brazilian dentists

Resumo

Often, dentists perform procedures aiming at more
esthetical than long-term clinical performance of restorations.
Objective: To evaluate the prevalence of use of different direct
and indirect restorative materials in posterior teeth. Material and
methods: In 2004, a questionnaire was applied to 486 dentists
living at five geographical regions of Brazil. The dentists answered
a questionnaire containing four questions, in which they reported
the most widely used restorative material for direct (amalgam,
composite resin, and glass ionomer) and indirect restorations (gold,
silver, and copper/aluminum alloys, indirect resin composites, and
ceramics) and specified the reason for using the material type
selected. Results: In 2004, amalgam was the direct restorative
material most used by dentists at almost all regions, except from
South region, where resin composite was the most used. Esthetics
was the main reason stated for the use of resin composites. As for indirect restorations, metallic restorations were the most used in Northeast
(77.8%). No differences were found regarding the material type use between
metallic and aesthetic materials at North, Southeast and Center-West regions.
At South region, esthetic restorations were the most used. Conclusion:
Despite the limitations of this present study, direct and indirect metallic
restorations were the most common materials in 2004.