Survival of primary molar restorations in four birth cohorts-A retrospective, practice-based study.

Abstract Objective. Paediatric restorative dentistry continues being a challenge in everyday clinical practice. Practise-based survival analysis covering entire age cohorts offer an epidemiological approach to this issue in studying survival of restorations in primary teeth. The aim of this study was to compare survival of restorations in primary molars in 1985, 1990, 1995 and 2000 age cohorts associated with some population-related factors. Material and methods. Data from dental records of the entire cohorts were obtained from the Health Centre of Kemi, Finland covering the period 1989–2009. The longevity of the restorations was illustrated using the Kaplan-Meier survival curves and tested with log-rank test and Cox proportional hazards regression analysis. The retrospective caries risk definition for individuals was based on the early restorations in the first permanent molars. Results. Total number of the placed restorations was 2755. Survival of the restorations was the shortest in the 1995 cohort and...