Question · asked by 1 review

Replacement of the defective restoration vs Repair of the defective restoration: Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 3: secondary caries

Population
Dentists managing a defective direct resin composite restoration (posterior occlusal Class I; standardized vignette of a 30-year-old, low-caries-risk patient)
Intervention
Replacement of the defective restoration
Comparison
Repair of the defective restoration
Outcome
Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 3: secondary caries

Subgroup (Continent: Africa): pooled preference was replacement over repair for a defective composite restoration with secondary caries (RR 4.62); significant continental variation, p < 0.001.

What each review found

Current versions only
No studies found 0 · 0%GRADE not reported 5 · 100%Very low 0 · 0%Low 0 · 0%Moderate 0 · 0%High 0 · 0%
FindingEffectStudiesGRADE certainty
Replacement of the defective restoration vs Repair of the defective restoration
Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 3: secondary caries · Dentists managing a defective direct resin composite restoration (posterior occlusal Class I; standardized vignette of… · Not applicable (single time-point survey, June to October 2023), Multinational (21 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, South America); general dental practice, Continent: Africa
Subgroup (Continent: Africa): pooled preference was replacement over repair for a defective composite restoration with secondary caries (RR 4.62); significant continental variation, p < 0.001.
Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) All outcomes
RR 4.62 [3.64, 5.86]2 studies · 339 participantsGRADE not reported
Replacement of the defective restoration vs Repair of the defective restoration
Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 3: secondary caries · Dentists managing a defective direct resin composite restoration (posterior occlusal Class I; standardized vignette of… · Not applicable (single time-point survey, June to October 2023), Multinational (21 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, South America); general dental practice, Overall (all 21 countries pooled)
For a defective composite restoration with secondary caries, surveyed dentists most often preferred replacement over repair (pooled RR 2.43; p < 0.001); ungraded.
Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) All outcomes
RR 2.43 [1.87, 3.16]21 studies · 3680 participantsGRADE not reported
Replacement of the defective restoration vs Repair of the defective restoration
Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 3: secondary caries · Dentists managing a defective direct resin composite restoration (posterior occlusal Class I; standardized vignette of… · Not applicable (single time-point survey, June to October 2023), Multinational (21 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, South America); general dental practice, Continent: Europe
Subgroup (Continent: Europe): pooled preference was replacement over repair for a defective composite restoration with secondary caries (RR 3.07); significant continental variation, p < 0.001.
Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) All outcomes
RR 3.07 [2.41, 3.89]6 studies · 1075 participantsGRADE not reported
Replacement of the defective restoration vs Repair of the defective restoration
Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 3: secondary caries · Dentists managing a defective direct resin composite restoration (posterior occlusal Class I; standardized vignette of… · Not applicable (single time-point survey, June to October 2023), Multinational (21 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, South America); general dental practice, Continent: South America
Subgroup (Continent: South America): pooled preference was replacement over repair for a defective composite restoration with secondary caries (RR 1.33); significant continental variation, p < 0.001.
Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) All outcomes
RR 1.33 [1.03, 1.71]2 studies · 349 participantsGRADE not reported
Replacement of the defective restoration vs Repair of the defective restoration
Composite: Preference for replacement over repair - Scenario 3: secondary caries · Dentists managing a defective direct resin composite restoration (posterior occlusal Class I; standardized vignette of… · Not applicable (single time-point survey, June to October 2023), Multinational (21 countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, South America); general dental practice, Continent: Asia
Subgroup (Continent: Asia): pooled preference was replacement over repair for a defective composite restoration with secondary caries (RR 2.13); significant continental variation, p < 0.001.
Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational… (2025) All outcomes
RR 2.13 [1.40, 3.24]11 studies · 1917 participantsGRADE not reported

Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.

The reviews

ReviewSearched up toIncluded studiesAMSTAR 2
Clinical Decision-Making of Repair vs. Replacement of Defective Direct Dental Restorations: A Multinational Cross-Sectional Study With…
2025 All outcomes
Not applicable (primary multinational survey; data collected June to October 2023, no bibliographic database search)Not listedNot applicable
How reviews are matched to this question

Reviews word the same question differently. Four decision models (TypeSafe's Jev, Liquid AI's d1-ultra, SubQ Snap and Baseten's Elephant) judged each wording of the population, intervention, comparator and outcome against the others; two wordings count as the same when at least three of them agree and none clearly disagrees, and findings count as this question only when all four elements match. Timing, setting and subgroup never split a question: they are shown on each finding.