Oral Health Status and Gingival Response to Three Different Restorative Materials among Saudi Patients: A Clinical & Histopathological Study

Background: The correlation between oral health and dental restoration is fundamental. For the gingival and periodontal tissues to stay healthy, dental restoration should be in regularity with the surrounding tissues. This study aims to assess the oral health status and histopathological gingival response to three different restorative materials among Saudi patients. Methods: The study groups consist of 240 patients (50% males and 50% females), aged 18 - 45, with inclusion and exclusion criteria in the study. Participants are divided into three equal groups: those with composite resin restorations, those with amalgam restorations and those with glass ionomer restorations. Biopsies were taken from adjacent gingival tissues. Clinical parameters were determined by: plaque index (PLI), gingival index (GI) and clinical attachment loss (CAL). All data were collected and evaluated by through statistical analysis. Results: The clinical findings of the current study revealed that amalgam restorations produce a higher means of PLI, GI and CAL compared with composite resin restorations and glass ionomer restorations, but not insignificant levels, except CAL (p = 0.004*). As for histopathological findings, there were significant differences in gingival tissue response to amalgam restorations, composite resin restorations and glass ionomer cement fillings, where there were statistically significant differences in numbers of chronic inflammatory cells (p < 0.001). Conclusion: At the end of the present study, we concluded that the amalgam restorations are less biocompatible compared to composite resin restorations and glass ionomer restorations.