Repair restorations: Questionnaire survey among dentists in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland

The aim of this study was to carry out a representative survey on the implementation of and experience with repairs of single-tooth restorations among dentists in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland. An anonymous questionnaire was sent to all 1,411 dentists registered in the Canton of Zurich; 38.9% of the delivered questionnaires were returned and 35.3% could be evaluated. The statistical analysis comprised Kendall’s rank correlation coefficient (tau), Wilcoxon signed-rank tests, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. The level of significance was set at p≤0.05. Repair restorations are frequently made (composite: 98.5%, ceramic: 88.9%, crowns: 86.5%, metal: 54.6%, amalgam: 51.5%). Main indications for repairs were the partial loss of an existing restoration or of the adjacent dental hard substance, while restoration failures due to secondary caries were repaired to a lesser extent. The decision to repair is largely dependent on the size of the defect (90%), the size of the original restoration (63%), and the material of the failed restoration (84%). Repair restorations are most frequently made with composite following adequate conditioning of the repair surface. A majority of the dentists rate the lifespan of repair restorations as reduced in comparison with newly made restorations. In summary, repairs of defective single-tooth restorations are frequently performed by dentists in the Canton of Zurich, Switzerland, and constitute a well-established treatment procedure.

Acceptability of different oral formulations in infants and preschool children

OBJECTIVE

Liquid medicines are easy to swallow. However, they may have disadvantages, such as a bad taste or refrigerated storage conditions. These disadvantages may be avoided by the use of oral solid medicines, such as powders or tablets. The aim of this study was to investigate the acceptability of and preference among four oral formulations in domiciliary infants and preschool children in The Netherlands.

METHODS

Parents administered four oral placebo dosage forms that were aimed at a neutral taste, at home, to their child (1-4 years of age) twice on one day following a randomised cross-over design: small (4 mm) tablet, powder, suspension and syrup. They were asked to report the child's acceptability by a score on a 10 cm visual analogue scale (VAS score) and by the result of the intake. At the end of the study, they were asked to report the preference of the child and themselves.

RESULTS

183 children were included and 148 children were evaluated. The data revealed a period/cross-over effect. The estimate of the mean VAS score was significantly higher for the tablet than for the suspension (tablet 9.39/9.01; powder 8.84/8.20, suspension 8.26/7.90, syrup 8.35/8.19; data day 1/all days). The estimate of the mean number of intakes fully swallowed was significantly higher for the tablet than for the other formulations (all p values <0.05). Children and parents preferred the tablet and syrup over the suspension and the suspension over the powder (all p values <0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

All formulations were well accepted. The tablets were the best accepted formulation; the tablets and syrup the most preferred.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

ISRCTN63138435.