Excellent marginal adaptation extends the longevity of restorations. Unfortunately, polymerization shrinkage of composite restorations adversely affects this quality requirement. The residual stress within the cured resin compromises the material's properties, causes marginal openings, and flexes cavity walls. In this study, the wall-to-wall contraction in MOD cavities was measured for different placement techniques. In addition, the restoration margins were quantitated before and after thermo-cycling and mechanical stressing. Factors which enhanced adaptation also optimized marginal quality and reduced the amount of residual stress. The latter was expressed by intercuspal narrowing after the restoration was completed. Both quality and stress resistance of the marginal adaptation were inversely correlated to the intercuspal narrowing caused by the polymerization contraction of bonded and excellently adapted resin restorations. The most effective factors which optimized marginal quality included: guidance of the shrinkage vectors; reducing the ratio of bonded to free, unbonded restoration surfaces; and minimizing the mass of in situ-cured composite. The latter principle was followed best in the adhesive inlay technique. In medium-sized adhesive MOD composite inlays, the volume loss induced by the polymerization contraction of the composite cement was non-destructively compensated for by an inward flexing of each cavity wall of approximately 10 microM.