Is amalgam in child dental care on its way out? Restorative materials used in children and adolescents in 1978 and 1995 in Norway.

OBJECTIVE: Improvements in dental health in children and adolescents and development of dental materials influence the selection of restorative materials. The purpose of this study was to obtain information on the amount and type of restorative materials used in children and adolescents in Norway in 1995 and compare this with the materials placed in 1978. DESIGN DATA: on numbers of restored surfaces and the use of amalgam and other restorative materials were collected from the dental records of 7,278 children aged 5, 9, 12, 15 and 18 years in 1995. Data from 1978 on 9,224 children were collected from the reports of the public dental services. RESULTS: From 1978 to 1995, the number of permanent surfaces restored was reduced by 69, 68, 64 and 52% for 9-, 12-, 15- and 18-year-old children respectively, and the number of primary surfaces restored declined by 64 and 59% in 5- and 9-year-old children. The proportion of restored surfaces that were filled with amalgam was reduced in all age groups and in both primary and permanent teeth. In 1995 most of the surfaces restored were filled with glass ionomer. The number of surfaces restored with amalgam decreased in all age groups. The reduction varied from 73% in the oldest age group to 97% among 5-year-old children. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that the use of amalgam has decreased dramatically in children and adolescents and that with the present low caries rates the amount of amalgam inserted is small.