First two-year complications of fixed partial dentures, eight units or more. Swedish Guarantee Insurance claims

This study is an analysis of fixed partial dentures (FPDs), 8 units or more, that failed or suffered severe complications within the first 2 years after cementation. The material consists of claims to the Swedish Guarantee Insurance for Fixed Prosthodontics. Claim reports, radiographs, etc. were available. Over a 6-month period, 36 FPDs were sampled, 34 of which were made by general practitioners. The sampling resulted in 41 complications in 26 maxillary and 10 mandibular FPDs, 29 of which were made in metal-ceramics. The mean extension was 10.9 units, with an abutment/pontic ratio of 1.4; 40.6% of the abutments were root-canal treated and supplied with root posts. The complications were: metal framework fractures 41%, loss of retention 24%, porcelain fractures 17%, tooth/root fractures 10%, and miscellaneous 7%. The high proportion of metal framework fractures is not in accordance with other studies of FPD complications. No factor that could explain this high frequency could be identified. The fact that the selection of FPD complications applied to the first 2 years only, that the FPDs had been constructed by general practitioners, and that there were many root-canal-treated abutments and distal extension cantilever pontics, might be factors of importance.