Fixed cantilever splints on teeth with normal and reduced periodontal support

Area of Science:

• Dental prosthetics
• Periodontology
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Cantilever fixed partial dentures (FPDs) can induce stress on abutment teeth and supporting bone.
• Osseous defects in distal abutments can compromise the stability and longevity of FPDs.
• Periodontal involvement of abutment teeth necessitates strategies to manage occlusal loads.

Purpose of the Study:

• To visualize stress distribution in teeth and bone using photoelastic models for cantilever FPDs.
• To evaluate the impact of osseous defects on distal abutments.
• To assess the effectiveness of splinting periodontally involved teeth to sound teeth for stress reduction.

Main Methods:

• Utilized photoelastic models to simulate stress patterns.
• Investigated cantilever FPDs with distal abutments exhibiting crater or trough osseous defects.
• Studied the effects of splinting periodontally compromised teeth to varying numbers of sound teeth.

Main Results:

• Occlusal forces on cantilever FPDs were primarily distributed to the three teeth nearest the loaded cantilever.
• Optimal stress reduction in the periodontium was achieved by splinting one periodontally compromised tooth to two sound teeth.
• Increasing the number of splinted abutments beyond two did not yield a proportional decrease in stress.
• No significant occlusal load sharing was observed across the dental arch.

Conclusions:

• Splinting strategies are crucial for managing stress in cantilever FPDs, particularly with compromised abutments.
• The optimal number of splinted sound teeth is two for maximizing stress reduction.
• Cantilever FPDs exhibit localized force distribution, with limited cross-arch load sharing.