The importance of dental materials in clinical dentistry

A good working knowledge of dental materials by each member of the dental team is critical because the effective practice of restorative dentistry is impossible without it. As such, it has been said that dental materials science may be considered as ‘the foundation upon which restorative dentistry is built.’¹ Unfortunately, many undergraduate dental students became quickly turned off the subject due to the way in which it was traditionally taught, possibly because its emphasis was not clinically driven. Furthermore, after qualification, many members of the dental team find it difficult to keep abreast of change driven by market forces and the appearance of new products. It is therefore timely and appropriate that a special edition of Dental Update should be dedicated to dental materials and, even more importantly, how they may be correctly prescribed and handled clinically. I would like to thank my colleagues on the Dental Update Editorial Board for their support and acquiescence when I suggested that there was a need for such an edition.