Every verdict, one page.

For routine root canal treatment, finishing in one visit heals about as well as spreading it over two or more.

a 47-trial Cochrane review, a corroborating meta-analysis, and a dedicated RCT

For routine canals, single cone with a high-quality bioceramic sealer heals, hurts, and survives about the same as warm vertical compaction, and it does it in roughly half the chair time.

three RCTs from two research groups, one systematic review

A post does not strengthen a root-canal-treated tooth.

six systematic reviews, no dedicated large RCT

Hold the material constant (same lithium disilicate, same cement), and digital and conventional crown workflows produce statistically equivalent marginal fit, internal adaptation, and survival.

three meta-analyses and a matched cohort agree

Two large randomized trials (five and seven years of follow-up, real children, not rats) found no statistically significant difference in IQ, memory, kidney function, or nerve conduction between kids restored with amalgam and kids restored with composite.

two RCTs and a Cochrane review

Bond strength to sclerotic dentin really is lower than to sound dentin.

two systematic reviews, no dedicated RCT

For routine Class I and II composite restorations, adding a cavity liner does not measurably reduce post-operative sensitivity or improve survival: a Cochrane review and an independent 341-patient RCT both say so.

a Cochrane review and three corroborating RCTs, no long-term follow-up

Used per manufacturer instructions, bulk-fill composite performs about as well as conventional 2 mm incremental layering on annual failure rate, marginal integrity, and post-operative sensitivity.

a 5-year RCT and a meta-analysis of ten studies

A meaningful share of curing lights in active clinical use (old ones especially, but not only old ones) deliver less light energy than the composite at the bottom of a Class II box needs to fully polymerize.

real-world surveys plus in vitro physics, no clinical RCT

Applied before a modern adhesive, Gluma desensitizer measurably plugs dentinal tubules in vitro, and several small trials show a real reduction in sensitivity in the first days to weeks.

two long RCTs against three short, smaller ones

Two of the four "red lines" for crowning instead of filling hold up on verified data: a definitive crack (early crowning measurably improves survival over years, not just anecdotally) and a posterior tooth after root canal treatment (uncrowned teeth are extracted at six times the rate of crowned ones).

several large retrospective cohorts and one meta-analysis, no randomized trial

Glass ionomers really do remineralize caries-affected dentin.

a small systematic review and converging in vitro/in vivo studies, no clinical outcome trial

The two best answers to "does immediate placement carry a penalty" genuinely disagree, and pretending otherwise would be dishonest.

one systematic review and one long-term single-center cohort disagree

Silver diamine fluoride arrests active caries in the majority of lesions it's applied to, and it holds up over years, not just at the six-month recheck.

three concordant systematic reviews and a large RCT

A crown placed today has a realistic shot at 90% survival at 5 years, somewhere around 80% at 10, and just over 60% at 20: numbers that come from a 1,037-crown cohort followed for more than a decade on average, backed by two systematic reviews of thousands more.

two systematic reviews and two multi-decade cohort studies

The largest and best-designed trial ever run on this question (2,372 adults, 51 UK practices, 4 years of follow-up) found no meaningful difference in caries, gum bleeding, or quality of life between patients recalled every 6 months, every 24 months, or on an individualized risk-based schedule.

one large RCT and a concordant Cochrane review

For deep carious lesions in vital, asymptomatic teeth, selective caries removal beats complete excavation on the outcomes that matter (pulp exposure and overall failure), and does at least as well as the more time-consuming stepwise technique.

a Cochrane review, a second meta-analysis, an RCT, and a national guideline