Development and Validation of Class I Preparation and Restoration Quality Assessment Methods

This study sought to develop and validate two methods of quality assessment, one for Class I cavity preparation and another for composite resin restoration. This was an experimental laboratory study. The methods are named Class I Cavity Preparation Assessment – COCA and Class I Cavity Restoration Assessment – COCRA. During the development of the methods, 5 items were elaborated for COCA and 10 items for COCRA. Each item should be classified as appropriate, partially appropriate, or inappropriate. For each method, after evaluation, all item values should be added with a maximum possible score of ten points. The reliability of the COCA and COCRA was estimated through intra-observer reproducibility. For the methods application, 80 Class I cavity preparation and restoration in first molars were evaluated. A descriptive statistical analysis was performed, and the intra-observer concordance was estimated using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ρ). As a result, it was possible to observe that the reproducibility for COCA of evaluator 1 (ρ=0.76) and evaluator 2 (ρ=1.00) was classified as good and excellent, respectively. The reproducibility for COCRA of evaluator 1 (ρ=0.99) and evaluator 2 (ρ=0.77) was classified as excellent and good, respectively. It was concluded that COCA and COCRA were valid and reliable for the assessment of quality of Class I cavity preparation and restoration.