Rethink the mechanical principles associated with removable partial dentures

Denture design with minimal mobility for preservation of residual teeth

Abstract

The removable partial denture is a prosthesis that is used to a partially edentulous region. Among the basic concepts, “Protect residual oral tissue” is the most prioritized item. The first of the principles of denture design is the “minimization of denture mobility” which aims at reducing the displacement of the denture during its function to reduce the overloading of the abutment teeth. For the control of denture mobility, a strong retention is never necessary. Only by increasing the mechanical retentive force represented by the undercut retention, the over loading is imposed on the abutment tooth. It is possible to produce a sufficiently stable denture with minimum retention by regulating the slight movement direction in the function mainly on the action of support and bracing.