Removable partial denture design in the general dental practice II.

Abstract

Professional, legal and ethical guidelines and rules guide the duties and responsibilities of dentists in relation to patient
care, including the fabrication of removable partial dentures with cast clasp retained metal framework. The aim of our
study was to assess the extent to which dentists follow these standards in the daily practice. Data were collected using
a questionnaire and the responses of 88 dentists were analyzed. Based on our results, about half (54.5%) of the participating
dentists send a precise denture design to the laboratory to be used in the preparation of a metal framework, 88.5%
specify the abutment teeth, 65.9% choose the type of the clasps and 55.8% gives instructions for the major connectors.
A small percentage of dentist provide information to the lab in drawing (8.1%), it is more common to send textual instructions
(33.7%) and most dentists (58.2%) send drawings and written instructions together. Most of the dentists consider
periodontal hygiene aspects (81.8%) and almost half of them (42.5%) consider that they send clear, precise instructions
to the lab. A slightly higher proportion (50.5%) gives guidance but leaves more details to be decided by the dental
technician and only 8% provide very little guidance and leaves most of the details to the dental technician. Dentists
mostly (96.2%) use silicone impression material for the definitive impression to make the metal framework, only a few of
them mentioned alginate. Dentists are largely willing to take responsibility in the event of an error and believe that planning
together with the dental technician is important. To ensure that based on the patient-related information dentists
always, or at least more often design the removable partial dentures with metal framework, the theoretical and practical
knowledge needs to be broadened during university education and in continuing education courses.