e60 VOLUME 38 • NUMBER 1 • JANUARY 2007 QUINTESSENCE INTERNATIONAL Older adults are retaining more teeth than in past generations because of an increased awareness of oral hygiene, better knowledge of prevention and treatment of oral diseases, and greater use of dental services. It is predicted that people 50 to 54 years old will have an average of 6.6 more teeth than the current population when they are 75 or more years old. 1 Furthermore, the percent- age of edentulous patients 75 or more years old will decrease by about 50% from 1990 to 2025. According to a recent Swedish study, 95% of subjects 65 to 74 years old and 90% of subjects 75 to 84 years old will have remaining natural teeth in 2015. 2 Thus, geri- atric dentistry will increasingly entail nonop- erative and restorative caries therapies. The prevalence of caries in older popula- tions is available in many recent studies, indi- cating that untreated caries is an increasing problem. 3–5 Prevalence studies indicate that root caries is the major problem, particularly among elderly persons living in long-term Restorative caries therapy in nursing home residents using composite resins and compomers without a rubber dam Christian Molinari, Dr Med Dent 1 /Eunice Pazos, Dr Med Dent 2 / Marc Grundman, Dr Med Dent 3 /Tissiana Bortolotto, Dr Med Dent 4 / Ivo Krejci, PhD, Dr Med Dent 5 /Ejvind Budtz-Jørgensen, Dr Odont, DDS 6 Objective: This study was designed to investigate the prognosis of restorative caries ther- apy applied in nursing home residents. Method and materials: In 25 consecutive patients a total of 42 restorations were placed, 23 of composite resin (APX/SE Bond) and 19 of compomer (Dyract). The working conditions, such as patient cooperation, quantity of saliva, location of cavity margins, cavity size, and gingival inflammation, were evaluated prior to treatment. The restorations were evaluated qualitatively at baseline, after 6 months, and after 12 months. 18 Results: At 12 months, all examined restorations were clinically acceptable (6 patients had died). There was no significant difference between the quality of the restorations in composite resin and compomer. The plaque scores increased signifi- cantly during the study period. Conclusions: The study showed that, within the limitation of a short-term follow-up, restorative caries therapy using composite resin or compomer was successful in nursing home residents although rubber dam was not used. (Quintessence Int 2007;38:11.60–66) Key words: caries, composite resin, geriatric dentistry, nursing home residents 1 Private Practice, Geneva, Switzerland. 2 Associate Professor, Division of Gerodontology and Removable Prosthodontics, University of Geneva, Switzerland. 3 Associate Professor, Division of Gerodontology and Removable Prosthodontics, University of Geneva, Switzerland. 4 Associate Professor, Division of Cariology and Endodontology, University of Geneva, Switzerland. 5 Professor, Division of Cariology and Endodontology, University of Geneva, Switzerland. 6 Professor, Division of Gerodontology and Removable Prosthodontics, University of Geneva, Switzerland. Correspondence: Prof Ejvind Budtz-Jørgensen, Division of Gerodontology and Removable Prosthodontics, Section of Dental Medicine, 19, rue Barthélemy-Menn—CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland. Fax 4122 372 94 94. E-mail: Ejvind.Budtz-Jorgensen@ medecine.unige.ch COPYRIGHT © 2005 BY QUINTESSENCE PUBLISHING CO, INC. PRINTING OF THIS DOCUMENT IS RESTRICTED TO PERSONAL USE ONLY. NO PART OF THIS ARTICLE MAY BE REPRODUCED OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM WITHOUT WRITTEN PERMISSION FROM THE PUBLISHER.