Dental restorations - reasons for placement and replacement

The objective of the present study was to determine the clinical reasons leading to the decision of dental restoration placement and replacement. It was a descriptive case series study and was carried out from October 2010 to July, 2011. non-probability convenience sampling. From the city of Lahore, 30 dental clinics were selected randomly, after dividing the metropolis into six administrative zones with 5 dentists from each zone. All the thirty dentists from six zones were asked to register 100 consecutive direct restorations. The standard criteria proposed by Wilson et al [8] was used to record the reasons for placement and replacement of the restorations. The response from the private practitioners for data collection was 70%. The remaining data was collected from the department of Operative Dentistry, Lahore Medical and Dental College, Lahore. The results of the present study revealed that the primary caries was the major reason [84.3%] for the placement of the initial restoration and secondary caries accounted for the majority [7.1%] of the replacement restoration in the Lahore city. It was concluded that the major reason for restoration placement and replacement was caries therefore there is an need for finding the factors that are responsible for high caries incidence in Lahore and efforts should be made to prevent the caries

Selection of direct restorative materials in general dental practices in Lahore

The objective of the present study was to determine the choice of direct restorative material for restorations of teeth among dentists in the city of Lahore. It was a descriptive case series study. It was non-probability convenience sampling. Thirty registered dental surgeons with more than three years of clinical experience were selected randomly. The selection was carried out from a list of dentists in Lahore who were interested to participate in the survey. They were asked to take the informed consent from the patients to register 100 consecutive direct restorations on a Pro forma. The results of the present study revealed that the sample group comprised of 1313 males and 1687 females, and male to female ratio was 0.8:1. Percentage of new restorations was 90.1% while replacement restorations were 9.9%. It was concluded that the Amalgam [58.9%] was the most frequently used restorative material. This was followed by resin composite [25.6%], Glassionomers I cermet [13.4%] andcompomer[2.1%]in the city of Lahore. Therefore it is recommended to develop rules to prevent mercury contamination in environment by good waste management practices

Etiology, pattern and associated features of traumatic tooth fractures

This study was conducted to assess the etiology and pattern of traumatic dental injuries and their associated features in patients presenting with tooth fractures in the Operative Dentistry Department at LMDC from August 2011 to August 2012. Non-probability convenience sampling technique was used for the study .A pre-designed questionnaire that included questions regarding the traumatic tooth fractures, presenting complaints of patients and details of medical care that they received before presenting to LMDC was used to document the information. Examination was carried out to assess the pattern of fractures and their associated findings. Results showed falls [66%] to be the commonest cause of tooth fractures. 90% fractures were reported in 6-25years age group and young boys suffered more [59.0%] tooth fractures than young females [41.0%] Maxillary Central Incisor was the most commonly fractured tooth [80.98%]. 34.96% patients reported to a medical emergency first instead of a dental hospital. It was concluded that patients were not well informed about the type of care they should receive after a tooth fracture. Delay in dental treatment causes a number of teeth becoming non-vital