Dr. C. asks:
I am restoring an edentulous mandible. Originally I treatment planned for five 4.0×10 mm dental implants between the mental foramens. Because of bone quality, I could only place five 3.25×10 dental implants.
I plan to insert an FP3 (crowns with pink gingival) and use a UCLA type
attachment where I could screw the bridge directly into the dental implant
fixtures. I plan to use acrylic teeth and acrylic gingival on a metal
framework. I am wondering if a fixed detachable (high water hybrid) might be a better fit for these circumstances? I would appreciate any
comments. Thanks.
It sounds like you are doing a Hybrid Restoration either way, the only difference being that the acrylic would be further from the soft tissue for your latter choice.
Prosthesis design always goes back to the same parameters that need to be considered prior to choosing;
-Width of the implants
-geometry of placement i.e. A-P spread
-Crown-Root(Implant length) ratio
-Opposing arch
-Presence of Parafunction
-Type of occlusion i.e Class I vs II vs III
-Need for cantilevers (Can be Mesial, Distal, Buccal or Lingual)
-History of or present signs of traumatic occlusion such as wear, fracture, mobilty inconsistent with amount of perio bone loss, migration.
Changing this case to a highwater design will not help mechanically. 5 small diameter implants can be ok if the geometry is ok, cantilevers are limited, and especially if the opposing arch is a Denture.
Good Luck.
you are using pink gingiva, that means your interarch space is more suitable with screw retained removable denture not a PFM TYPE brigde.
i agree with Ron Haas