Restoration survival in hospital studies – better than in practice?

Practice-based research has its origin back in around 1993,1 when a publication cited the problems – lack of training for practitioners, need for funding because in practice time = money – but also the solutions – get an interested group together, find the funding and get started. The advantages of carrying out research into restoration survival in general dental practice are obvious: practice is the real world, with real patients and real dentists, from varying undergraduate and postgraduate backgrounds, all of whom are trying to make a living from dentistry. Practice-based research has recently come of age, with the establishment of a practice-based research network at the International Association for Dental Research (IADR). But, do restorations placed in practice survive as well as those placed in the more controlled situations in dental hospitals or academic institutions? I took part in a symposium at an IADR meeting in Helsinki recently, at which this was discussed.