Clinical application of electric resistance welding and soldering methods to removable partial dentures

The joining procedure for uniting metal structures is very important in the construction of removable partial dentures. However, it has several restricted problems in joining wrought wire clasps to rests or major connectors. For example, the base metal wires made of chromium-cobalt alloy are subject to changes in their mechanical properties caused by heating, and damage to acrylic resin materials (denture base and artificial teeth) occurs in the repair of removable partial dentures by using the torch soldering method. In this paper, in order to resolve these problems, an electric resistance welding machine was applied to attach wrought wire components to a removable partial denture framework. This welding machine was used to attach metal structures temporarily to each other, and to solder the welded joint with hard solder. Consequently, some problems of the conventional torch soldering method were improved by using the electric resistance welding and soldering methods. It was suggested that the clinical application of the electric welding and soldering methods was very useful in the construction of removable partial dentures.