The Extensively Restored Posterior Tooth has a High Incidence of Tooth Fracture

Abstract - A multicentred practice based study was established to test the hypothesis that the extensively restored tooth has a high incidence of posterior tooth fracture (PTF). All patients who presented with PTF in 23 general dental practices over a period of 14 weeks were included in the study. 764 PTF restorations were placed out of a total of 7551, an incidence of 10%. A novel classification proposing increased severity of fracture from l – lV was used. Class l = 19%, ll = 54%, lll = 22% and lV = 5%. Primary PTFs accounted for 67%, secondary 33%. 92% of fractured teeth had a Class 2 restoration in situ. The heavily restored tooth has been shown to have a high incidence of PTF and it is suggested that this is a major restorative problem in general dental practice in the UK.

KEY WORDS: posterior tooth fracture, fracture classification, multi-centre study.