Razieh Hoseinifar - Assistant Professor, Oral and Dental Diseases Research Center AND Kerman Social Determinants of Oral Health Research Center AND Department of Operative Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Ali Eskandarizadeh - Professor, Oral and Dental Diseases Research Center AND Kerman Social Determinants of Oral Health Research Center, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran
Fatemeh Zolfaghari - Student of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Nowadays, resin composites are the preferred material for direct posterior restorations. The present study was conducted to assess the performance and problems of general dental practitioners during and after posterior direct composite restorations in Kerman, Iran.METHODS: ۱۶۰ general dentists (۶۳% men and ۳۷% women) participated in this analytic-descriptive study. Data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of ۱۳ close-ended questions about the performance and problems of dentists associated with composite restorations in Kerman, in ۲۰۱۶. Data were analyzed by chi square and t-test using SPSS software.RESULTS: The most frequent complaint of patients after composite restorations was food impaction (۴۵.۰%), and the most clinicians' problems during composite restorations were achieving tight proximal contact (۵۹.۳%) and proper isolation (۵۹.۳%). Most of the dentists used traditional metal matrix systems (۷۰.۰%), wet polishing technique (۸۱.۲%), light-emitting diode (LED) light curing unit (۶۲.۵%), packable composites (۵۱.۲%) with incremental technique (۸۳.۱%), and two-step total etch bonding (۷۰.۰%). The main criteria for selecting composite as restorative material was patient request (۵۵.۰%), and most of the dentists preferred to restore the small or moderate class I cavities (۶۷.۵%), and after it, class V cavities (۵۷.۵%) with composite. Moreover, secondary caries (۵۸.۱%) was the most common reason for replacement of composite restorations; and in all questions, there were statistically significant differences between the most prevalent answer and the other answers (P < ۰.۰۵).CONCLUSION: The most frequent problems of dentists (achieving proper contact) and the most frequent complaints of patients (food impaction) are related to the use of traditional metal matrix systems.

Composite Resins, isolation, patients, dentist