A follow-up study on removable partial dentures in undergraduate program: Part I. Participants and denture use by telephone survey

The aim of this study was to investigate theclinical outcome of removable partial dentures(RPDs) designed to minimize denture mobilityduring function. Using archived files of theundergraduate program between 2003 and 2005at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, a list of169 patients treated with 184 RPDs was created.The RPDs had either an acrylic resin-base or acobalt-chrome framework-base. Two examinerstelephoned all the listed patients and interviewed118 patients (70%) regarding the use of theirRPDs. Of 118 patients, 42 (36%) had stoppedusing, mainly due to problems with abutment teethin resin-based dentures, and replacement in cobaltchrome-based dentures. There was no significantdifference in mean age, gender distribution, meannumber of remaining/abutment teeth, distributionof denture arch, and Kennedy classificationbetween denture use and nonuse groups (p>0.05).The nonuse group showed a significantly higherpercentage of resin-base compared to the usegroup (p = 0.006). Logistic regression analysisindicated that resin-base was a significant riskfactor for nonuse (p = 0.008). The present findingssuggest that abutment teeth should be selectedcarefully, especially in this type of resin-basedRPDs, and that the denture base material may be acritical factor which determines denture use.