AbstractThe purpose of the present study was to assess the quality of silver amalgam restorations rendered by Israeli dentists. A group of 433 new army recruits, 18–20 years of age was selected for the study. A total of 707 amalgam restorations were examined in an army dental clinic, under standardized conditions by the same observer. The quality of amalgam restorations was assessed according to an index devised for this purpose. The quality of restorations was relatively low. Approximately two‐thirds of the fillings exhibited satisfactory quality when marginal adaptation of the filling material was examined. Three‐fifths of the fillings followed the principles of extension for prevention. A relatively high percentage (75%) of the fillings did not extend beyond the cavosurface margin at any point or did not fall short of it. However, in only 47% of all fillings was appropriate occlusion restored. The fillings were found to be porous in about 60% of the cases and almost none of the fillings were polished. Overhangs were detected in about one‐quarter of the restorations (22.8%); inflammatory reactions of the gingival tissue were noticeable in more than half of the cases (51.3%). An attempt was made to study the various characteristics of the amalgam filling as categorized by the index presented in this study, and discuss its effect on the filling's overall quality. It was suggested that lack of standardization of performance levels in Israel is reflected, in part, in the observed low quality of amalgam restorations. The conclusions of this investigation point to interventions which can be initiated through the dental education, financing and public health planning sectors of the society, to increase awareness of this problem and define specific interventions to improve the quality of restorative dental cave delivered in general practice in