Info Gathering and Effective Treatment Planning

• Indications for partial dentures:

  • Aesthetics
  • Function
  • Prevent tooth movement
  • Soft tissue anatomy
  • Speech
  • Patient choice
  • Transition to complete denture(s)
  • Aid stabilisation
  • Multiple spaces/large span
• Indications for partial dentures - aesthetics:

  • Patients more likely to request denture if replacing anterior teeth
  • Restoration of anterior spans
  • Alveolar resorption
  • Lip support
  • Social impact of tooth loss
• Indications for partial dentures - function:

  • Perceived benefit
  • Improved ability to chew - potentially
  • Potential speech improvement
  • But...pts often describe various problems
• Indications for partial dentures - prevent tooth movement:

  • Maintain vertical dimension
  • Maintain space
  • Over-eruption or migration of teeth can make restoring edentate spaces challenging
• A well-designed partial denture may assist stabilisation phase of treatment - it can act as a transitional denture, or trainer denture.
• The decision to provide a partial denture:

  • Benefits
  • Minimally invasive, improves function, stabilises occlusion, and acts as a trainer prosthesis
  • Risks
  • Increased perio/caries risk, trauma from denture components, and reduced patient tolerance
• Essential information for treatment planning regarding partial dentures:

  • Identify patient concerns (appearance, function, general wear and tear, etc)
  • History
  • Assessment of oral health
  • Assessment of current denture
  • Risk factors for oral disease
  • Ongoing care and maintenance
• Diagnosis and risk assessment for partial dentures:

  • History
  • Pt complaints, further questions, previous denture wear, pt factors (expectations, age, cognitive capacity, health, nutrition, personality)
  • Examination
  • OHA, charting, BPE, RAG scores, ridges, occlusion, arc of closure
  • Further investigations
• Edentulous spans:

  • Number of missing teeth
  • Location of missing teeth
  • Condition of the alveolus
  • Condition of the remaining dentition

  
• Our role:

  • Preserve the remaining dentition
  • Reduce the risk of pathology developing
  • Where possible, manage the presenting complaint and expectations of treatment
  • Restore aesthetics and functions