Screw Retention for Fixed Partial Dentures?

Dr. S. asks:
I have been restoring dental implant cases now for 6 years and everything has been going well. My concern is long-term survival of intact fixed partial dentures. My prosthodontist has recommended that I use screw retention for fixed partial dentures. He says that cement retention is okay for the short term but if the porcelain fractures or abutment screw loosens, I will have to probably redo the fixed partial denture. He only uses screw retention. His view is that eventually the fixed partial dentures will experience problems, most commonly, porcelain fracture. I cannot find this in the literature so I am turning to those of you who have been doing this for a longer period of time. What do you think?

1 Comments on Screw Retention for Fixed Partial Dentures?

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Alejandro Berg
9/16/2008
That is partially true. If you have problem its easy to resolve if its screwed, if its cemented with temporary cement or with the Hebel technique(vaseline covered structure and teporary resin cement), the structure would be recuperable too. So there is no real problem in cementing the structure. I have been cementing and screwing structures without any preference for almost 15 years now with similar success rate and cementing has the advantage of making possible some angle and possition corrections that are just not possible in screwed structures. By the way today most of us use internal connection implants and the possibility of a screw getting loose is minimal. best of luck

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