title: Clinical pilot study on new dental filling materials and preparation procedures in developing countries.
abstract: Conservative dentistry in developing countries often poses a problem because of lack of expensive dental equipment. This survey was undertaken to test two more appropriate filling materials in vivo. In 94 secondary school students (in Mzuzu, Malawi) with two or more cavities, one cavity was prepared in the conventional way using drilling equipment and then filled with amalgam, and one cavity was prepared using hand instruments only and filled with either cermet ionomer or "miracle mix". Models of the filled teeth (99 amalgam, 53 "miracle mix", 54 cermet ionomer; all of them Class 1) were made and evaluated by three examiners after 6 months and after 1 yr. The fillings were given a score on a four-point scale. One year later all types of filling materials had significantly decreased in quality, but only five fillings (one amalgam, one "miracle mix", and three cermet ionomer) needed replacement. Compared to the amalgam filling in the same mouth, more cermet ionomer and "miracle mix" fillings performed poorly, but these differences were not statistically significant after 1 yr. Both cermet ionomer and "miracle mix" are very promising alternatives for Class I tooth cavities in areas without dental equipment.
authors.affiliation: St. John's Hospital, Mzuzu, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: P D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Chimimba
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kalf-Scholte
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bouma
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016722:Cermet Cements; D003722:Dental Alloys / Q000737:chemistry; D003723:Dental Amalgam / Q000737:chemistry; D003737:Dental Cavity Preparation / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D003906:Developing Countries; D005899:Glass Ionomer Cements / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D015588:Observer Variation; D010865:Pilot Projects; D012834:Silver; D018030:Silver Compounds; D013499:Surface Properties; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D016722:Cermet Cements; D003722:Dental Alloys; D005899:Glass Ionomer Cements; D018030:Silver Compounds; C067445:Chelon Silver; C068076:Chelon Fil; D012834:Silver; D003723:Dental Amalgam