ABSTRACT
DATA SOURCES: Cochrane Oral Health Group Trials Register, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), Medline, Embase, ISI Web of Science, ISI Web of Science Conference Proceedings, BIOSIS, OpenSIGLE. Reference lists of all eligible trials and review articles and their reference lists were searched. STUDY SELECTION: Trials were selected if they met the following criteria: randomised or quasi-randomised controlled trial, involving replacement and repair of resin composite restorations. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Titles and abstracts were assessed independently by two review authors for relevance . Full papers were obtained for relevant articles and both review authors studied these. Data synthesis was to follow Cochrane Collaboration statistical guidelines. RESULTS: 279 potentially eligible studies were identified. Only four studies were analysed further but none of these met the inclusion criteria and all were excluded from this review. CONCLUSIONS: There are no published randomised controlled clinical trials relevant to this review question. There is therefore a need for methodologically sound randomised controlled clinical trials that are reported according to the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement (www.consort-statement.org/). Further research also needs to explore qualitatively the views of patients on repairing versus replacement and investigate themes around pain, distress and anxiety, time and costs.
