Natural teeth and implant supported fixed partial denture: a case report

THE CASE A 30 years old man presented with the main complaint of loose lower denture with which he was unable to chew and speak properly. The loss of multiple teeth (fig.1) was from an alleged roadside accident and it was also associated with multiple fractures of the lower jaw. Upon clinical examination, it was found that the mandibular teeth distal to the left lateral incisor, except for the impacted wisdom tooth, and multiple teeth in the maxilla were missing. Periodontal probing and radiographs revealed that the remaining teeth were healthy. The lower anterior teeth were slightly proclined and spaced. It was decided to initially restore the left and right quadrant of the upper arch with a porcelain bridge each, involving the remaining upper teeth on the left and the right quadrant separately. After completing the restoration of the upper arch, it was then decided to restore the edentulous lower left quadrant by a rigid, conventional fixed partial denture, supported by two endo-osseous implants as the distal and intermediate abutments, and the teeth nos.31, 32, 41, 42 and 43 as the anterior abutments. The type of the two implants that were used was the two-stage DFI system of the Alpha Bio Implant Ltd., Germany. An Orthopantogram (OPG) of the mandible showed a bone thickness of 13mm above the mandibular canal in the posterior region.