Current status of the cast metal inlay: a survey of dental schools in the UK and Hong Kong

Abstract

This study reports on the current status of the gold inlay in the undergraduate curriculum of Dental Schools in the UK and at the Prince Philip Dental Hospital, Hong Kong, to determine if the decline in the use of the cast gold inlay over the past 20 years is reflected in teaching at undergraduate level. A questionnaire, which was mailed to all the heads of departments of conservative dentistry in the UK, was designed to determine current teaching in respect of cast inlays. The results show that although the majority of UK dental schools continue to teach direct and indirect inlay techniques, a minority (4 and 5 respectively) no longer incorporate a practical exercise in this teaching. Reasons cited for the discontinuation of the technique are varied but the availability of simpler, more conservative techniques is emphasized. Examination of the treatment records at the prince Philip Dental Hospital, Hong Kong, where the Class II inlay technique is taught both theoretically and practically, shows that only a small proportion of all posterior cast restorations fitted between May 1983 and April 1988 were inlays (4·6 per cent). © 1989.