Should dental amalgams be used in  dental training? The perspectives of  dental academics at a university in  South Africa

Bissoon, Sharmila; Moodley, Rajeshree

doi:10.17159/2519-0105/2021/v76no9a2

Cited by 2 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Dental amalgam remains an affordable option for many patients requiring complex restorative treatments, including those requiring indirect restorations without the adequate funds. Thus, the complete replacement of amalgam by composite is not recommended, as correlated by other studies ( 11 , 13 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…A clear increase in the placement of posterior tooth-colored restorations was evident can be attributed to a variety of factors including ease of placement, patient preference, aesthetics, and the trend towards minimally invasive dentistry ( 8 , 10 , 11 , 13 ). This large increase in tooth colored posterior restorations correlates with data from the UK and North America which has also shown an increase over a 10-year period ( 12 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While universities have decreased the quota/number of amalgam restorations required to be placed by dental students, two respondents raised the concern that placement of amalgam restorations is necessary for the development of certain “hand-skills” in dentistry, especially in the pre-clinical environment. The concern that a complete shift to tooth-colored restorations would negatively impact the students' skills development was raised by a recent South African study ( 13 ). The skills development for dental amalgam restorations is due to the need for a specific cavity design whereas cavity design for tooth-colored restorations follows a caries-directed approach.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A recent paper explored dental amalgam teaching in dental therapists' training at a public university in South Africa and reported that dental amalgam is still integral to dental education ( 13 ). There is no current data regarding dental amalgam teaching practices for dentists in South Africa.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Teaching and placement of dental amalgam restorations at South African dental schools

Essa,

Ahmed,

Dyason

et al. 2023

Front. Oral. Health

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IntroductionThis paper set out to investigate the relationship between teaching and clinical practice of direct posterior restoration placement at tertiary dental institutions in South Africa.MethodsA cross-sectional study using a mixed methods approach was conducted, and all the South African dental schools were invited to participate. The quantitative phase of the study analyzed the Conservative Dentistry department's records of direct restorations at a single dental school. The number of amalgam and tooth-colored restorations placed by students in the fourth and fifth year of the program from 2004 to 2019 were compared. During the qualitative phase, semi-structured interviews were held with staff from the four dental schools involved with the teaching of direct posterior restorations.ResultsThe predominant direct posterior restoration placed in student clinics over a 15-year period at a South African dental school was tooth colored (75%). Teaching times do not correspond to a decrease in the placement of dental amalgam restorations for both one-surface and two-surface posterior restorations and a concomitant increase in the tooth-colored restorations.DiscussionAcademic staff involved in teaching identified that South Africa's ratification of the Minamata Convention has consequences for dental education and training. However, all schools reported that dental amalgam would continue to be taught in the absence of an appropriate alternative.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Teaching and placement of dental amalgam restorations at South African dental schools

Essa,

Ahmed,

Dyason

et al. 2023

Front. Oral. Health

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Comparing teaching of amalgam and direct posterior composite restorations to undergraduates: A cross-sectional study among faculties from the Department of Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics in Kerala, India

P Mohanan,

Chandrababu,

Prabhu

et al. 2023

INJO

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Background: Posterior composites are widely used in dental practice today. But whether the undergraduate dental curriculum equip the students with the knowledge and skills in posterior composite placement is questionable. Further, amalgam seems to be an ideal choice of restoration by a few dental professionals. Thus this study aims to compare the theoretical, pre-clinical, and clinical curricular aspects of amalgam and direct posterior restoration from the perspective of dental teaching faculty. Materials and Methods: This observational cross-sectional study was conducted across all dental colleges in Kerala. A questionnaire designed through google forms were sent to 100 dental teaching faculty, selected by random sampling. The responses were entered in Microsoft excel and analysed using Statistical Product and Service Solution (SPSS) trial version 25. Appropriate descriptive and inferential statistics were employed. Results: Only 34.1% of the dental teaching faculty strongly agreed on the adequacy of the theoretical aspects of posterior composite restoration compared to 69.3% for amalgam restorations. Fifty percent of the study participants believed that amalgam will be completely replaced by posterior composite in future. Eighty three percent of the dental teaching faculty pointed out the inadequacy of time in preclinical exercises for posterior composite restorations. Conclusion: The findings highlighted inadequacy in the theoretical, pre-clinical, and clinical aspects of teaching posterior composite restorations among dental undergraduates and warranted the curricular reforms should be made accordingly.

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Should dental amalgams be used in dental training? The perspectives of dental academics at a university in South Africa

Cited by 2 publications

References 19 publications

Teaching and placement of dental amalgam restorations at South African dental schools

Teaching and placement of dental amalgam restorations at South African dental schools

Comparing teaching of amalgam and direct posterior composite restorations to undergraduates: A cross-sectional study among faculties from the Department of Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics in Kerala, India

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