Photoelastic stress analysis in perforated (Rochette) resin bonded bridge design

Rochette described the perforated cast metal bonded design for splinting periodontally compromised teeth. The design was later used for replacing missing teeth. The main causes of failure of the perforated (Rochette) type design were attributed to inappropriate case selection and erosion of the composite from perforations. The aim of this study was to analyse the effect of stress magnitude and direction on failure of perforated resin bonded bridges (RBBs). The objective was to compare stress magnitudes in this design with those reported on the non-perforated RBBs. Photoelastic modelling materials were selected to represent the relative stiffnesses of a posterior mandibular and an anterior maxillary perforated (Rochette) type design. The sizes of the models were scaled to x 2.5 in order to enhance visual analysis of the stress patterns. Stress magnitudes were quantified from isochromatic fringes and stress directions were evaluated from stress trajectories. These revealed a high-stress concentration around the perforations, particularly for those at the proximo-lingual/palatal (connector) areas. This experimental study revealed that the main reason for failure of Rochette designs is deformation at the perforations.