Plaque Retention Research Articles

The relationship of oral hygiene to embrasure and pontic design—A preliminary study

M ost clinicians agree that embrasures and pontics should be designed so as to create conditions most favorable to the gingival and alveolar mucosa.l-” Because of the complications involved in establishing controls, researchers have not been able to express the desired shape of an embrasure in quantitative terms. Although there have been some attempts to correlate pontic design with the condition of the underlying mucosa,“-7 further study of the influence of dental plaque in these areas was indicated. A clinical evaluation program was conducted to determine whether there were dimensions of embrasures and pontic designs which were more favorable than others to the health of the gingiva and the underlying mucosa (Fig. 1) . One hundred embrasures and 42 pontics were studied in six patients over a three-year period. The embrasures were formed by restorations either between natural teeth, natural teeth and pontics, or between pontics. A separate study of plaque retention in relation to these dimensions and designs was made in one patient over a twelve-week period.