Abstract

Objective: A fixed dental prosthesis provides one of the best options to restore to restore lost tooth structure and serves over a long period of time. The purpose of this study was to examine the crowns and fixed conventional bridges of patients reporting to the OPD and to evaluate the incidence and causes of complications with these type of restorations. With proper knowledge it will be possible in future to reduce the factors that perpetuate the failure of fixed prostheses and result frustration for both dentist and the patient.
Methodology: This cross sectional study was carried out in the Department of Prosthodontics at Jinnah Medical and Dental College. Karachi from December 2018 to September 2019. 149 patients were enrolled in the study using non probability, consecutive sampling technique. The demographic data was recorded and patients were examined to assess the cause of failure of fixed dental prosthesis. SPSS version 22 was used for statistical analysis.
Results: The mean age of all the prostheses was 4.78 years. Most failure was due to biologic causes 130 (87.2%). Most patients 146(98.0%) cleaned their teeth using brushing and 84 (56.4%) cleaned their teeth once daily. Maximum failures were reported with porcelain fused to metal 145 (97.3%) restorations which had a mean prosthesis life of 4.89 years. Nearly equal failing restorations were found in maxilla 74 (49.7%) and in mandible 75 (50.3%) with maxillary prosthesis having a mean life of 5.08 years and mandibular prosthesis lasting for 4.48 years. More failures were reported in posterior quadrants 119 (79.9%) with prostheses present in the anterior segment lasting for 6.46 years as compared to those in posterior segments lasting for 4.30 years. Most of the failed restorations were single unit with a mean prosthesis age of 4.26 years while 7 (4.7%) fixed partial dentures had greater than 5 units and had a mean life of 11.6 years.
Conclusion: At present the average life of prosthesis at 4 years on average is less than satisfactory. To improve the quality it is necessary to have proper patient selection, diagnosis, treatment planning, clinical and technical skills.

Key words: Keywords: porcelain fused to metal fixed dental prostheses, metal fixed dental prosthesis, Fixed dental prostheses failure, method and frequency of cleaning teeth.