This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Kidd, E.A.M. Articles by Beighton, D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Kidd, E.A.M. Articles by Beighton, D. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Prediction of Secondary Caries around Tooth-colored Restorations: A Clinical and Microbiological Study

Department of Conservative Dentistry, United Medical and Dental School, Guy's Hospital, London Bridge, London SE1 9RT, England

D. Beighton

Joint Microbiological Research Unit, King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8RW, England

Caries at the margins of restorations is difficult to diagnose, and the relevance of staining and ditching around tooth-colored fillings is unclear. This clinical study questions the relevance of marginal color change and marginal ditching to the level of infection of the dentin beneath the margins of tooth-colored restorations. Clinically visible sites (197) on the tooth/restoration margin were selected in 113 teeth. The filling margin and the enamel adjacent to each site were noted as stained or stain-free, and sites were graded as intact, having a narrow ditch, or having a wide ditch. Thirty sites with frankly carious lesions were also included. Plaque was sampled at the toothrestoration margin and the filling removed. The enamel-dentin junction (EDJ) at each sample site was noted as hard or soft when probed, and the dentin was sampled. Samples were vortexed, diluted, and cultured for total anaerobic counts, mutans streptococci, and lactobacilli. There were more bacteria in the plaque over frankly carious cavities, and the dentin was soft and heavily infected. Only 38 out of 167 sites without frankly carious cavities had soft dentin at the EDJ. Both the plaque and dentin in these sites harbored more micro-organisms. However, none of the clinical criteria chosen would reliably predict the presence of this soft dentin. In this study, only a frankly carious lesion at the margin of the filling constituted a reliable diagnosis of secondary caries.

Key Words: secondary caries • tooth-colored restorations

Journal of Dental Research, Vol. 75, No. 12, 1942-1946 (1996)
DOI: 10.1177/00220345960750120501


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				I. A. MJOR Clinical diagnosis of recurrent caries J Am Dent Assoc, October 1, 2005; 136(10): 1426 - 1433. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				J.P. Santerre, L. Shajii, and B.W. Leung Relation of Dental Composite Formulations To Their Degradation and the Release of Hydrolyzed Polymeric-Resin-Derived Products Critical Reviews in Oral Biology & Medicine, January 1, 2001; 12(2): 136 - 151. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]