FREQUENCY OF TYPE OF COMMON MAJOR CONNECTOR DESIGN EMPLOYED IN REMOVABLE PARTIAL DENTURES PROVIDED TO PATIENT

Abstract

Objective:
 To determine the frequency of the types of common major connector designs in removable partial dentures provided to patients.
 Materials and Methods:
 A cross-sectional study was done at Khyber College of Dentistry. Participants fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria were invited to take part in the study. The information was collected using a single interviewer-administered questionnaire. The demographic information of the patient was recorded. Information related to the design of major connector wasrecorded after it was drawn on the cast, before it was sent to the laboratory. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 17.
 Results:
 Data from 207 subjects were collected over a period of 24 months. The mean age of subjects was 41.21 ± 9.13 (SD) years. Out of 207 subjects, 41.1% were males and 59.9% were females. Female to male ratio was 1.43:1. Out of total, 49.3% were maxillary and 50.7% were mandibular removable partial dentures.Removable partial dentures constructed from cobalt-chromium accounted for 152 of the observed cases.Of the 152 observed cases of removable partial dentures made of cobalt-chromium, 81 were in the mandibular arch and 71 were maxillary. The remaining 55 were made of acrylic resin, out of which 31 were maxillary and 24 belonged to the mandibular arch.The study concluded that the horse shoe shaped connector is the most common type of connector used in the maxillary removable partial dentures (both cast partial and acrylic RPD’s) and the lingual plate is the most frequent type of connector given in the mandibular removable partial dentures.
 Conclusion:
 The studyshowed that common maxillary cobalt-chromium major connectorwas the horseshoe shape, and that of mandibular cobalt-chromium major connector design was the lingual plate. Additionally, common acrylic RPD were horseshoe shape in maxilla and lingual plate in mandible.