The value of an amalgam condensation exercise in pre- and postgraduate education.

Abstract

Abstract The quality of condensation and adaptation of amalgams placed in a standard test cavity by three groups was evaluated in this study. These groups were compared with a baseline group of first-year preclinical students who used the test as a preclinical exercise. The ranking order of the median scores from best to worst was: baseline first-year students academic staff fourth-year students private practitioners. The private practitioners' scores for the normally visible parts of the restoration were higher than their scores for the normally invisible areas. This was not found in the other two experimental groups, or in the baseline group. The participants' assessment of their own work shows that they were not on the whole satisfied with their amalgam restorations. The results of this study show that adaptation and condensation of amalgams can be significantly improved using a teaching method which provides information on the quality of the normally invisible parts of a restoration.