Removable Partial Dentures Class 3

Removable Partial Dentures

• Denture supporting structures: teeth and/or residual ridges that serve as the foundation for removable partial or complete dentures.

Diagnostic Cast

• A life-size reproduction of a part or parts of the oral cavity and/or facial structures for the purpose of study and treatment planning.

Key Terms

• Support: the foundation area on which a dental prosthesis rests; resistance to forces directed toward the basal tissue or underlying structures.
• Retention: the quality inherent in the dental prosthesis acting to resist the forces of dislodgment along the path of placement.
• Interim denture: a fixed or removable dental prosthesis designed to enhance esthetics and function for a limited period of time.
• Abutment: a tooth, a portion of a tooth, or that portion of a dental implant that serves to support and/or retain prosthesis.

Tooth Anatomy

• Height of contour: a line encircling a tooth and designating its greatest circumference at a selected axial position determined by a dental surveyor.
• Undercut: the portion of the surface of an object that is below the height of contour in relationship to the path of placement.
• Angle of gingival convergence: the angle formed by the tooth surface gingival to the survey line and the analyzing rod or undercut gauge of a surveyor as it contacts the height of contour.

Removable Partial Denture

• Path of insertion: the specific direction in which prosthesis is placed on the residual alveolar ridge, abutment teeth, dental implant abutment(s), or attachments.
• Guiding planes: two or more vertically parallel surfaces on abutment teeth and/or fixed dental prostheses oriented so as to contribute to the direction of the path of placement and removal of a removable partial denture.
• Bounded edentulous area: an edentulous area that is bounded and supported by natural teeth at both ends.
• Free-end edentulous area: an edentulous area that is bounded and supported by natural teeth at one end.
• Extension base or free end extension RPD: a removable partial denture that is supported and retained by natural teeth only at one end of the denture base segment and in which a portion of the functional load is carried by the residual ridge.
• Fulcrum line of rotation: a theoretical line around which the RPD tends to rotate.
• Saddle or denture bases: the part of a denture that rests on the foundation tissues and to which teeth are attached.
• Basal seat or denture foundation area: the oral anatomy available to support a denture.
• Retainer: any type of device used for the stabilization or retention of prosthesis.
• Treatment plan: the sequence of procedures planned for the treatment of a patient after diagnosis.