Results from a five-year clinical assessment of undergraduate-performed direct composite restorations

Resin based dental composites offer significant benefits with regard to the minimally invasive management of dental caries. However, over a period of time such restorations may become susceptible to failure with secondary caries and marginal deterioration being common causes. A retrospective clinical study was conducted at the IMU University Oral Health Centre to assess the quality of direct resin composite restorations placed by dental undergraduates as judged by the modified United States Public Health Service (USPHS), criteria. This study aimed to evaluate the quality and the causes of the failure of direct resin composite restorations in permanent teeth placed by dental undergraduate students using modified USPHS criteria to assess failure. A total of 76 restorations were evaluated in this study. Descriptive statistics were collected, and the Chi-square test (p < 0.05) was used to determine statistically significant differences. A total of 42.1% of the composite resin restorations in the study were considered satisfactory. Of the restorations regarded as failures, the causes were colour mismatch (39.4%), followed by marginal discolouration (21%) and then restoration fracture (14.5%). The operator's year of study (p = 0.039) and the number of restoration surfaces (p = 0.039) showed statistically significant associations with the quality of the restorations. Composite resin restorations performed by dental undergraduates exhibited high failure rates, which were primarily attributed to colour mismatches, marginal dis-colourations, or fractures of the restoration.