The aim of this paper is to present concept mapping as a tool for enhancing clinical dental education and develops the authors' argument for the use of concept mapping presented previously in the pages of this journal. Materials presented are based on data gathered from extensive observation of learning and teaching in a UK dental school, and upon a case study of student learning of removable p...

The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical outcome of removable partial dentures (RPDs) designed to minimize denture mobility during function. Using archived files of the undergraduate program between 2003 and 2005 at Tokyo Medical and Dental University, a list of 169 patients treated with 184 RPDs was created. The RPDs had either an acrylic resin-base or a cobalt-chrome framework-ba...

In developing the expert system for designing removable partial dentures, the construction and enlargement of data base are indispensable. The object of this study was to report on the process of constructing the clinical data base and its function within the expert system. The data base in the system consisted of three main parts. They are the knowledge data base obtained from human experts an...

The Kennedy Class I removable partial denture (RPD) can cause stress to supporting hard and soft tissues and may lead to harmful effects. The purpose of this study is to investigate the pattern of these stresses in three different positions before and following a relining procedure. Ten patients, five males and five females, with a lower distal extension RPD and an opposing upper class III type...

Patients who cannot tolerate total coverage of the hard palate or whose maxillary arches are poorly formed, because of congenital, developmental or surgical defects, may be unable to wear a conventional complete denture. These patients can be successfully treated with implant-supported prostheses that cover only a minimal amount of palatal tissue. With spark-eroded castings, very precise restor...

Excess denture movement during function may cause to jeopardize the resorption of the residual ridges and the mechanical trauma on the abutments in the partially dentate mouth. A removable partial denture (R.P.D.'s) should be so constructed that the artificial teeth on the denture base will be stabilized in their spatial position by way of the compensatory support due to the remaining abutments...