Direct resin-bonded, fibre-reinforced anterior bridges: a clinical report

Direct resin composite cantilever bridges were placed in patients to replace 26 single upper anterior teeth and one upper premolar. Twenty-four bridges were simple cantilevers, and three were fixed-fixed bridges. The bridges were constructed with hybrid resin composite placed around a resin-impregnated plasma-etched polyalkane fibre bundle bonded to the abutment tooth enamel by the acid-etch technique. Twenty-five bridges were assessed at 10 +/- 1 months. Two had fractured due to trauma, however, in both cases the pontic remained attached to the abutment tooth by the fibre bundle. This method of tooth replacement is viewed as a rapid, simple, cost-effective means of replacing anterior teeth in selected patients.