Crown & Bridge

Lecture: 8 Dr. Farid

Components of Fixed Partial Denture

Pontic
It is the suspended portion of the fixed partial denture (bridge) replacing the
lost natural tooth or teeth, restoring its function, and usually occupying the space
of missing natural tooth.
Components of the pontic (PFM):
1- Metal backing. 2- Solder joint 3- Facing.

Materials used in pontic fabrication

The pontic may be made entirely of cast metal or porcelain or Zirconium. A
combination of metal backing and porcelain or acrylic facing can be used also.
Functions of the pontic
1) Mastication.
2) Speech (phonetics).
3) Esthetics (appearance).
4) Maintenance of tooth relationship.
Ideal Pontic Requirements
Esthetic requirements
1. The pontic should meet the demand of esthetic and comfort the deciding factor
for esthetic value is smile line (The smile line is an imaginary line running from the
incisal edges of the maxillary incisors and coinciding with the curvature of the lower
lip). it locates the appearance zone of the facial aspect of the teeth, this quite true
for the upper teeth, however for the lower teeth, most of the time only the higher
portion of the facial aspect as well as the occlusal surface lie in the appearance
zone. So to fulfill esthetic requirement pontic must;
 Looks like the tooth it replaces
 Tissue contacts appear as normal tooth.
 Lower lip line helps to evaluate buccolingual position of the incisal edge and
the curvature of the incisal plan

In excessive bone loss it is possible to construct pontic with a length coincide with
clinical requirement for that patient but for esthetic reason you can add pink
porcelain to the apical portion of pontic to simulate gingival tissue.
 Root can be stained to simulate exposed dentine.
 Pink porcelain to simulate the gingival tissues
Biologic Requirements
2. The pontic must be hygienic; permit maintenance of high standard of oral
hygiene by the patient through providing good access for cleaning pontic
underlying soft tissue, furthermore, pontic should prevent soft and hard tissue
irritation. Pontic design should allow the patient to use devices such as brushes,
super floss and dental floss without difficulties.
3. The tissue surface of the pontic should design so that it should not cause any
problem to the underlying soft tissue (ulceration and inflammation) by pressure, a
pressure free contact is indicating (passive contact, thickness of a film of saliva is
sufficient when esthetic demand pontic facial surface to be lies within appearance
zone)
4. The tissue surface of the pontic should design so that it should not cause any
problem (irritation follow by inflammation) to the pontic underlying soft tissue by
improper food staff shading, that is important for plaque formation, through poor
pontic design or poor material selection (pontic tissue surface should be convex,
ceramic)

Glazed porcelain and highly polished metal (gold) are the preferred materials for
tissue contact The glazed porcelain is the preferable material that should be used
on those portion of pontic which approximate the edentulous ridge. Because their
porous nature and difficulty in obtaining a highly polished surface, resins should
not be used as near the soft tissue.
5. The contact area or solder joint should guard the interproximal area and the
embrasure (mesial, distal and lingual) should be opened wide to allow massage of
the gingival tissue.
6. The contour of the labial and lingual surfaces of the pontic must be proper and
lie with the same line of contour of the adjacent teeth so it will allow stimulation
as well as protection of the underlying tissue
Mechanical Requirements;
7. The pontic must be strong enough to withstand the force to which it is subjected
without deformation (Rigid & resistant to deformation). Part of pontic that subject
to force usually made of metal or supported by it. All metal pontic may be needed
in situation of high stress rather than metal ceramic pontic which is more
susceptible to fracture. Mechanical problems may be due to
 Improper choice of material.
 Poor framework design.
 Week connectors
 Poor occlusion
 Poor tooth preparation
8. It should restore the function of teeth it replaced i.e. masticatory function
efficiency must restore to the proper limit.
9. Sometime it is desirable to reduce the occlusal surface width by 20% to reduce
torque on retainers and abutments and simplify the cleaning with minimal soft
tissue contact, however, width of the pontic required will be governed by esthetic,
span length, abutment teeth strength, ridge form and occlusion
Summary of pontic Requirements:
 Esthetic
1. Looks like the tooth it replaces.
2. Tissue contacts appear as normal tooth.

 Biologic
1. Can maintain healthy tissues.
2. Cleansable.

 Mechanical
1. Strong enough to withstand functional forces.
2. Rigid & resistant to deformation.
3. Provides normal function.

Designs (Types) of Pontic:

 (A) Pontics with mucosal contact:
1. Saddle Pontic (full ridge lap)
 Overlaps the ridge (largest area of contact)
 Most natural feeling
 Most difficult to clean (concave tissue surface overlying residual ridge BL)
 Should never be used
 Used for o Limited occlusal-gingival space o Patients who object to lingual
space

2. Ridge Lap Pontic

 Like saddle on buccal
 Convex on the lingual
 More cleansable than saddle design
 Potential for tissue irritation minimized
 Give the illusion of being tooth
 Combines best features of saddle & hygienic pontics
 Used when the tooth lies in the appearance zone (max & man.)
3. Modified Ridge Lap Pontic
 Contacts tissue only on most facial surface of the pontic
 Most cleansable
 Least tissue irritation
 Space between pontic and tissue on lingual can be unacceptable to the
patient
 Used when the tooth lies in the appearance zone (max & man.)

4. Conical Pontic (bullet, spheroid)

 egg shaped or spheroid shape.
 used as pontic in non-esthetic areas.
 convex shape with only one point touches the residual ridge.
 The easiest design to clean.
 Used when occlusal 2/3 of the facial surface lie in the appearance zone but
not gingival 1/3 (lower incisors, premolars and molars).
 if used with broad, flat ridge, this lead to debris trapping embrasure space.
5. Ovate Pontic
 Placed in convexity on edentulous ridge
 Appears to be growing out of tissue
 Natural feeling for patient
 Difficulty in cleaning
 Potential for tissue irritation
 Used for Maxillary incisor and premolars
 Requires surgical preparation

6. Modified Ovate Pontic

 The modification of the ovate pontic involves moving the height of contour
at the tissue surface from the center of the base to a more labial
position.1_1.5mm apical and palatal to gingival margin
 The modified ovate pontic does not require as much faciolingual thickness to
create an emergence profile.
 Excellent esthetics
 Fulfilled functional requirements
 Greater ease of cleaning compared with the ovate pontic owing to the less
convex design.
 Its major advantage over the ovate type is that often there is little or no need
for surgical augmentation of the ridge
7. Hygienic Pontic (sanitary, wash through);
 Made entirely from metal
 Doesn’t have any contact with underlying tissue
 Primary design for the non-appearance zone in mandibular posterior regions
 Most cleansable
 Convex shaped
 No tissue contact
 3 mm space
 3 mm thickness
 Patient acceptance? Questionable 8. Modified Hygienic Pontic (Archway
pontic)
 A modified version of the sanitary pontic.
 It gingival portion is shaped like archway between the retainers
 This geometry added bulk for strength in the connectors while decreasing
the stress concentrated in the pontic and connectors
 Made entirely from metal
 Doesn't have any contact with underlying tissue
 Primary design for the non-appearance zone in mandibular posterior regions
 Access for cleaning is good, also, tissue Susceptible to proliferation that can
occur when the pontic is too close to the residual ridge No tissue contact
 Patient acceptance? Questionable.
 Components of Fixed Partial Denture (Bridge)
Connector
It is that part bridge or F.P.D which joins the individual components (retainers or
pontics) together, retainer with pontic, retainer with retainer or pontic to pontic.
This can be accomplished by non-rigid movable (flexible) connector or, most
commonly, rigid (fixed) connector.
Types of Connectors
1. Rigid
 All metal
 Metal-ceramic
 All ceramic
2. Non Rigid
 Prefabricated in plastic or metal and incorporated into the wax pattern
 Milled into the wax pattern or casting

PRINCIPLES CONNECTORS DESIGN

1-size
Connectors must be sufficiently large to prevent distortion or fracture during
function, but, not too large to prevent interference with plaque, periodontal tissue
disturbance over time.
2-shape
The shape of the tissue surface of the connector should be curved faciolingually
and highly polished and smooth to facilitate cleaning and patient should be
satisfied with the appearance.
3-postion
The location of the contact area should be established correctly to influence the
success and stability of the prosthesis. In the anterior teeth, the connector should
place lingually. In the posterior teeth, located in the occlusal third of the crown and
more lingually
.