Long-term analysis of telescopic crown retained removable partial dentures: survival and need for maintenance

The aim of this retrospective longitudinal study was to evaluate the clinical long-term survival of telescopic crown retained removable partial dentures (TRPDs), the influencing factors on survival as well as the type and number of necessary treatments during the observation time.

The study is based on the data of 463 patients who had received a total of 554 TRPDs with a total of 1758 telescopic crowns between 1995 and 2004 in our Dental School. The influence of the patient's gender, location of the denture, number of abutment teeth per telescopic denture, their distribution (Kennedy-class) and the impact of a routinely follow-up programme on the survival probability were analysed.

During the observation period (mean 5.3+/-2.9 years) 4.7% of the TRPDs ceased functioning and 3.8% of the abutment teeth were extracted. The survival probability after 5 years was 95.1% for the TRPDs and 95.3% for the abutment teeth. No denture with more than four abutments required replacement. Only the covariates number of abutment teeth and patient in-follow-up showed a significant (p<0.01) influence on the survival probability. 26.9% of the TRPDs needed facing repairs, 34.8% relines, 20.6% loss of cementation of a primary crown and 1% abutment tooth treatment.

Within the limits of a retrospective study it can be concluded that the number of attachments and thorough aftercare have a considerable impact on the long-term success of TRPDs. Though loss of cementation and defects of the facings were significant in number, they did not endanger the long-term success of a TRPD at all.