Risk factors for failure in the management of cervical caries lesions.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this retrospective, non-interventional clinical study was to analyze factors influencing the survival of restorative treatments of active cervical (root) caries lesions (aCCLs) and the success of non-invasive treatment options of inactive cervical (root) caries lesions (iCCLs).


METHODS
Records from patients who visited a single private practice regularly were searched for the presence of solely buccal CCLs. Data from 345 aCCLs and 232 iCCLs being detected at least 6 months before the last recall visit in 295 patients were recorded. Kaplan-Meier analyses were used to analyze time to failure in both groups. Cox proportional hazards models were used to evaluate the association between clinical factors and time until failure.


RESULTS
Within 120 months, 20 aCCLs had received a second restorative follow-up treatment. For iCCLs, 35 lesions had to be restored within 120 months. Median survival/success time was 111 months for aCCLs (annual failure rate 1.7%) and 120 months for iCCLs (annual "restoration" rate 4.3%). In multivariate Cox regression, active and inactive CCLs being checked up more than twice a year showed significantly higher failure/restoration rates than CCLs being checked up less than twice a year (p < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Low failure/restoration rates could be found for both treatment strategies for CCLs, and only the "number of check-ups per year" was significantly positively associated with failures.


CONCLUSIONS
Caries monitoring is a viable way to manage CCLs. However, individual check-up interval should be defined carefully, since higher rate of check-ups seems to lead to increased intervention rates in the management of CCLs. The study was registered in the German Clinical Trials Register (DRKS-ID: DRKS00010003).
Department of Operative Dentistry, Periodontology and Preventive Dentistry, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany. rwierichs@ukaachen.de.
R J
RJ
Wierichs
Private Practice, Norden, Germany.
E J
EJ
Kramer
Department of Operative Dentistry, Periodontology and Preventive Dentistry, RWTH Aachen University, Pauwelsstrasse 30, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
H
H
Meyer-Lueckel
D000328:Adult; D019232:Dental Restoration Failure; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D053208:Kaplan-Meier Estimate; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D017213:Root Caries / Q000628:therapy*
Clinical studies/trials; Geriatric dentistry; Preventive dentistry; Restorative dentistry; Risk factor; Root caries/resorption