Rajat R. Khajuria

ABSTRACT

Rehablitation of a patient prosthodontically not only involves the rehabilitation of lost teeth but to restore the lost functionality and appearance too. Pontics replace the missing teeth and connector joins the retainer and pontics. The present study was undertaken to evaluate pontic designs in posterior mandibular regions. Materials & method 40 patients were selected for the study and tooth preparation was carried out for all the subjects with deep chamfer finish line. Ridge lap pontic was prepared in 20 subjects and sanitary pontic was prepared in remaining 20 pontics. All the subjects with prosthesis were cemented and the subjects were recalled after one month and a questionnaire was prepared and was given to the subjects one month after the cementation of the prosthesis. The patients were informed to fill the questionnaire independently. Data was collected and analyzed statistically. Results Among all the patients tested, 34 patients (85%) had no complaint with concern to prosthesis, 2 patients (5%) complained of food lodgement in group 2 patients and 4 patients (10%) complained of tongue irritation in group 1 patients. Conclusion: The clinical implication of the study is to use sanitary pontic when cleansing is the main concern and ridge lap pontic as pontic of choice where aesthetics is to be considered. In the anterior region, where esthetics is a concern, the pontic should be well adapted to the tissue to make it appear that it emerges from the gingival surface. Conversely, in the posterior regions, mandibular premolar and molar areas, esthetics can be compromised in the interest of designs that are more amenable to oral hygiene.