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• Evaluates the use of a new Y-TZP material, for the construction of 3 and 4-unit fi xed-fixed posterior and anterior all-ceramic bridges in general practice.• Discusses the satisfactory results at year one of a three-year trial.• The trial continues to monitor the restorations over a three-year period. I N B R I E F PRACTICEPurpose To report the results at year one of a three-year evaluation of the performance of fixed all-ceramic bridges, con structed with a yttrium tetragonal zirconia polycrystal substructure placed in adult patients in UK general dental practices and cemented using a self-adhesive resin-based cement. Methods Ethical approval was obtained. Four UK general dental practitioners were asked to recruit patients complying with the trial criteria and protocol. After obtaining informed written consent, appropriate vitality and radiographic assessments were completed and the pre-operative status of the gingival tissues noted. The teeth were prepared and bridges constructed using the same technician and laboratory procedures. Each bridge was reviewed within three months of the anniversary of its placement by a calibrated examiner together with the clinician who had placed the restoration. The examiners evaluated the integrity of the restoration, its anatomic form, marginal adaptation, surface quality, sensitivity, the condition of the adjacent gingivae, and the presence or absence of secondary caries. Results All the bridges (n = 38) examined at the first-year review were present, intact and performing well, though one small chip of the veneering porcelain was detected and in two cases an abutment tooth had been endo dontically treated through an occlusal access cavity.

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The new material achieved ratings for ease of use superior to the pre-study resin-based and conventional luting materials in the dental practices of 13 UK dental practitioners.

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Most dental treatment, in most countries, is carried out in general dental practice. There is therefore a potential wealth of research material, although clinical evaluations have generally been carried out on hospital-based patients. Many types of research, such as clinical evaluations and assessments of new materials, may be appropriate to dental practice. Principal problems are that dental practices are established to treat patients efficiently and to provide an income for the staff of the practice. Time spent on research therefore cannot be used for patient treatment, so there are cost implications. Critics of practice-based research have commented on the lack of calibration of operative diagnoses and other variables; however, this variability is the stuff of dental practice, the real-world situation. Many of the difficulties in carrying out research in dental practice may be overcome. For the enlightened, it may be possible to turn observations based on the volume of treatment carried out in practice into robust, clinically related and relevant research projects based in the real world of dental practice.

Objective The aim of this study was to assess the clinical performance at two years of 100 Solitaire 2 restorations placed in five United Kingdom dental practices by members of a practice-based research group. Method and materials Restorations were assessed after two years by a trained evaluator and the dental practitioner who had placed the material, for anatomic form, marginal adaptation, surface roughness, gingival condition and the presence or absence of secondary caries. In addition, the patients completed a questionnaire requesting details of the comfort and performance of the Solitaire 2 restoration(s). Results A total of 88 (58 Class II and 30 Class I) restorations of Solitaire 2 placed in 49 patients (mean age 43 years) were assessed. Twelve restorations could not be evaluated because of patient unavailability for the dates of the examinations. Two Class II restorations (2%) had failed by the time of the two-year evaluation and the remaining 86 restorations were found to be intact with no secondary caries. A high percentage of optimal scores were recorded for anatomic form and surface roughness. The colour match of two restorations (2%) was recorded as an obvious mismatch, but otherwise no unacceptable scores were recorded. Conclusions After two years of clinical service a high proportion (96%) of the Solitaire 2 restorations that were available for re-examination, placed in general dental practice settings, were found to be performing satisfactorily.

The ease of handling of dental materials is important in dental practice, given that practitioners may find that a material which is difficult to handle leads to suboptimal clinical results.