Intervention: restorative procedure
primary caries, caries, unnecessary loss of dental tissue, carious
CAVITY, DENTAL PLAQUE, CARIES
The patients received instructions for oral hygiene and dental prophylaxis of the tooth surface with pumice and water in a rubber cup, followed by rinsing and drying, with the aim of removing any remaining dental plaque. The proper shade of the resin composite was determined using a shade guide (Vita Classical, Vita Zahnfabrik, Bad Säckingen, Germany) before the restorative procedures. Local anesthesia was applied with a 3% mepivacaine solution (Mepisv 3%, NovaDFL, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) and rubber dam isolation was performed. The cavity design was defined by the extension of carious tissue or removal of the defective restoration, and it was performed as conservatively as possible. It did not involve any cusps and all gingival margins had sound enamel.The defective restorations were removed using a spherical diamond bur (# 1013; KG Sorensen, Barueri, Brazil) mounted in a high-speed handpiece with air-water spray. After removing the defective restorations, in the case of primary caries or the necessity of caries removal, after removing the failure restorations, the criteria used for the removal of carious tissue was selective, maintaining the affected dentin layer. This procedure was performed using hand instruments and slow-speed tungsten carbide burs (# 2 and 4; KG Sorensen, Barueri, Brazil). Bevels were not performed in cavity walls to avoid unnecessary loss of dental tissue. After cavity preparation, the width, length, and depth of occlusal and proximal boxes were measured using a periodontal probe (# 6 Satin Steel Handle, mm, Hu-Friedy, Chicago, IL, USA) and recorded. The deepest measure was used as reference to determine the number and thickness of the increments needed to fill the cavity with the composite resins.At this point, the envelopes were opened and the operators were revealed which restorative technique they would use based on the combination of composite packaging material and adhesive strategy. The Scotchbond Universal adhesive system, also known as Single Bond Universal in some countries (3M Oral Care, St Paul, MN, USA), was applied either in the SET mode with SEE or in the SET mode, following the manufacturer’s instructions ( 
