the aim was to determine the survival of tooth-coloured restorative materials in proximal restorations of primary teeth at 24 months of follow-up and the influence of the following variables: use of coating, use of cavity conditioner, use of rubber dam isolation, the cavity form, the dentist's experience and the methodological characteristics of the studies. We conducted a search until May 2019, obtaining 16 articles from which 30 independent studies were extracted, which were considered as units of analysis. Four outcome measures were extracted from each study: retention, marginal integrity, anatomic form, and absence of recurrent caries. Separate meta-analyses were carried for each outcome and multiple meta-regression model was applied. The outcomes with the highest mean success rates were absence of recurrent caries and anatomic form. The type of material significantly influenced success rates. The best materials were resin-based material plus total-etching adhesion and resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC), and the worst high viscosity glass ionomer cement (HVGIC). Atraumatic restorative treatment (ARt) had a lower success rate than the conventional cavity form. RMGic had the best clinical performance and HVGIC the worst. The form of the cavity, blinding and the experience of the operator were the variables that influenced success rates. Proximal primary molar restorations should be performed with RMGIC as it combines good mechanical performance of the resins together with the prevention of secondary caries of glass ionomers. The Global Burden of Disease 2015 study 1 concluded that oral health has not improved in the last 25 years: the age-standardized prevalence rate of untreated caries in primary teeth was 7.8% (573 million children) and 126 million children worldwide had incident cases of caries in primary teeth in 2015. Dental caries, according to the WHO, remains the most frequent chronic disease in early childhood in most communities around the world, having a negative impact on the quality of life of both the child and their family, and is considered a public health problem 2,3. The toxic effects on the patient, health professionals and the environment, the increasing prevalence of minimal intervention restorative approaches and the increased demand for aesthetics, have reduced the use of amalgam as the material of choice for the restoration of primary teeth 4,5. Currently, restorative treatments for primary teeth include a wide variety of tooth-coloured materials such as glass ionomer cements (GIC), resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC), high viscosity glass ionomer cement (HVGIC), compomers and composite resins (CR). In general, composites are recommended in children with a low risk of caries, compomers in children with a moderate risk and glass ionomers in children with a high risk 6. GICs are good materials for the primary dentition 7 due to their ability to adhere to the dental structure, low polymerization contraction, lack of postoperative sensitivity, biological compatibility and th...