Biomechanics of

Removable Partial
Denture
Prepared by: Ahmed Hussam Weheda

Under supervision of: Prof. Dr. Nabila El-Khodary

 Outline
1) Introduction
2) Philosophy of design:
a-conventional rigid design
b-Stress breaking
c-Physiologic basing
d-broad stress distribution
3) Forces acting on RPD
4) Factors affecting magnitude of stress transmitted to the
abutment tooth

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Introduction
Since removable partial dentures are not rigidly attached
to teeth, the control of potential movement under
functional load is important for the success of the
denture.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Introduction
What happens if the RPD moves?
This will lead to stresses on teeth and the alveolar ridges,
these stresses are equal to the forces applied to the
contact area of the denture

What happens if the forces are excessive?

This will lead to destruction and traumatic changes in the
supporting tissue

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Introduction
How to prevent destruction?
The forces should be kept within the limits of the
physiologic tolerance of the tissues.

What is the physiologic tolerance?

It is a range of mechanical stimuli that a system can resist
without disruption or traumatic consequences.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Philosophy of Design
Philosophies of design have been created to achieve the
most important goal which is:

“Keeping stresses within physiologic limits

Of supporting structures”

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
Edentulous areas

Free end saddle Bounded saddle

Tooth-tissue supported Tooth supported

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy
 Philosophy of Design
There are four design concepts which can be used to
distribute forces evenly along the soft tissues and
supporting tooth structure. They are:
1) Conventional rigid design.
2) Stress breaking.
3) Physiologic basing.
4) Broad stress distribution.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
1) Conventional Rigid Design

The RPD is all constructed from rigid components except

for the retentive arm terminals for broad stress
distribution.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
1) Conventional Rigid Design

Advantages Disadvantages
Less susceptible to )1 Increase torquing )1
distortion forces on abutment
More efficient indirect )2 .teeth
retention Rigid clasping may )2
Less need for relining due )3 .damage the tooth
to stress distribution to Relining is difficult )3
both teeth and ridge .to do

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
2) Stress Breaking
This is important especially for distal extension cases,
WHY?
Due to differences of compressibility of the mucosa and
the PDL. The mucosa is more compressible.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
2) Stress Breaking

Stress breaking: Reducing stress reaching the abutment

by allowing movement between saddle and abutment.
Stress equalizing: Equalizing the stress between abutment
and ridge;
Resiliency of PDL+ Resiliency of clasp=Resiliency of mucosa
Stress direction: Directing stress from the abutment to the
ridge by allowing movement between saddle and
abutment.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
2) Stress Breaking
Stress Breakers

Type I Clasps with stress

Type II
breaking action

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
2) Stress Breaking

Type I

This involves a movable joint between the direct retainer

and the denture base.
It includes:
1) Hinge type
2) Ball and socket type
3) Sleeve and cylinder type

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
2) Stress Breaking

Type II

This involves having a flexible connection between the

direct retainer and the denture base.
It includes:
1) Wrought wire connector.
2) Split major connector.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
2) Stress Breaking
Clasps with stress
breaking action

1) Wrought wire & combination clasp.

2) Ginigivally approaching clasp.
3) Back action clasp.
4) Reverse back action clasp.
5) RPI clasp.
6) Extended arm clasp.
7) Ring clasp.
Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy
 Philosophy of Design
2) Stress Breaking
Indications:
1) Distal extension cases 2) Weak abutments

3) Long span bounded saddles

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
2) Stress Breaking
Disadvantages:
1) Denture more difficult to construct.
2) Associated with increased bone resorption.
3) Decrease effectiveness of indirect retainers.
4) Easily destroyed and difficult to repair.
5) Expensive

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
3) Physiologic Basing
This concept depends on taking a selective pressure
impression, therefore recording the functional form of
the edentulous area.
This philosophy is also applied in tooth-tissue supported
cases.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
3) Physiologic Basing
How is this concept beneficial?
Since the denture is fabricated using functional record,
the soft tissues offer more resistance to further
compression. This resistance is close to the resistance of
the abutment teeth PDL, therefore this concept leads to:
1) Better Support.
2) Protection of abutment teeth from excessive loads.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
3) Physiologic Basing
Requirements for physiologic basing:
1) A rigid metal framework.
2) Functional occlusal rests.
3) Good adaptation and broad coverage.
4) Small number of clasps.
5) Using wrought wire combination clasp.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
3) Physiologic Basing
Disadvantages:
1) During rest, there is a rebound leading to premature
contact and trauma from occlusion.
2) Poor retention due to reduced number of clasps.
3) Increased bone resorption due to continued
compression of mucosa leading to reduced blood supply

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
4) Broad stress distribution
WHY?

Wide area Less force per unit area Stresses kept

within physiologic
Limits

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
4) Broad stress distribution
HOW?

This is done by:

1) Additional rests.
Distributes occlusal
2) More indirect retainers. loads to more teeth
3) More clasps. and a larger area of
mucosa
4) Broad mucosal coverage

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Philosophy of Design
4) Broad stress distribution
Disadvantages:
1) Maximum coverage is not accepted by most patients.
2) Maximum coverage interferes with oral hygiene.
3) Dentures become more heavy

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy

 Forces acting on RPD

"Common observation clearly

indicates that the ability of living things to tolerate
force is largely dependent upon the magnitude or
intensity of the force. " Maxfield

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
The ability of supporting tissues to resist forces depends
on:
 What are the typical forces requiring resistance.
 What are the duration and intensity of these forces.
 What is the capacity of the teeth and/or mucosae to
resist the forces.
 How does material use and application influence this
teeth-tissue resistance.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD

Simple Forces Machine Forces

These are forces that

1
2
3 occur in simple
Mechanical machines,
some of which can be
Away from the ridge )1 applied on RPD.
Towards the ridge )2
Horizontal )3
McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics
 Forces acting on RPD
Simple Forces

Retention: that quality inherent in the dental prosthesis

acting to resist the forces of dislodgment along the path
.of placement away from the ridge
Support: the resistance to displacement towards the basal
.tissue or underlying structures
Stability: the quality of a removable dental prosthesis to
be firm, steady, or constant, to resist displacement by
functional horizontal stresses.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
Machine Forces

These include;
1) Lever 2) Inclined plane

3) Screw 4) Rotation

5) Pulley 6) Wedge

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
Lever action
A lever is a rigid bar supported somewhere along its
length.
The support point of the lever is called the fulcrum, and
the lever can move around the fulcrum.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
Lever action: Classes of lever
action

Class 1 Class 2 Class 3

Occurs in distal Occurs in bounded

Occurs in distal
extension cases saddles
extension cases
McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics
 Forces acting on RPD
Lever action
The lever action is the most important force occurring in
RPD. It is resisted by:
1) Proper support from alveolar ridge.
2) Indirect retainers resting on hard structures.
3) Proper extension of major and minor connectors.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
Rotation
Rotation and lever action are very closely related and the
measures to prevent both of these actions are similar.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
Rotation: Planes of rotation

Frontal Sagittal Horizontal

Axis of rotation:
Axis of rotation: through supporting and Axis of rotation:
Crest of the ridge retentive fulcrum axis vertical fulcrum
McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics
 Forces acting on RPD
Rotation
Prevention of frontal rotation:
1) Buccal and lingual extension of saddle.
2) Bracing arm of clasps.
3) Rigid major and minor connectors.
4) Proximal plates

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
Rotation
Prevention of Sagittal rotation:
1) Indirect retainers (retentive fulcrum).
2) Functional impressions of supporting ridges.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
Rotation
Prevention of horizontal rotation:
1) Rigid major and minor connectors.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
Inclined planes
Severely inclined planes should be avoided during
construction of any RPD, this is important to direct forces
favorably to the supporting structures.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
Wedging forces
Wedging forces occurs mainly in bounded saddle cases
during insertion and removal of the denture.

It is prevented by:
1) Proper surveying and design.
2) Correct design of guiding planes(adaptation, size)

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
How do these forces affect the supporting tissues?
Because the actual movement of the denture resulting
from these forces is small, most of these forces result in
stresses on the teeth and the mucosa.
Therefore all efforts should be done to reduce these
stresses.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
A tooth is apparently better able to tolerate vertically
directed forces than non-vertical, torquing, or
horizontal forces because more periodontal
fibers are activated to resist the application of vertical
forces to teeth than are activated to resist the
application of non-vertical forces

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
An abutment tooth will better tolerate non-vertical forces
if these forces are applied as near as possible to the
horizontal axis of rotation of the abutment

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Forces acting on RPD
The axial surface contours of abutment teeth must be
altered to locate components of clasp assemblies more
favorably in relation to the abutment's horizontal axis.

McCracken’s Removable Partial prosthodontics

 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
1) Length of 2) Quality of
edentulous span supporting ridge

3) Clasp
4) Occlusion
considerations

5) Design 6) Abutment tooth

considerations surface

7) Response of oral
structures to
previous stresses

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
1) Length of
edentulous span

The longer the edentulous span

The greater the force transmitted, due to greater occlusal table

Posterior teeth should be

preserved as much as possible to:
1)prevent transition from bounded
to free end saddles.
2) Keep the edentulous area shorter
Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
2) Quality of
supporting ridge

:The form of the residual ridge)1

a) Large well formed ridges are capable of absorbing
.greater amount of stresses than small, knife edge ridges
.b) Broad ridges with parallel sides reduce lateral forces

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
2) Quality of
supporting ridge

:The quality of mucosal coverage)2

a) Healthy mucosa of 1 mm thickness is ideal for bearing
.functional load more than atrophic mucosa
b) If the thickness is more than 1 mm, it is considered
.flabbiness and this produces more stresses

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
3) Clasp
considerations

1) Type of clasp:
Clasps

ginigivally approaching Occlusally approaching

All are resilient double arm single arm

(reduce stresses)

Aker combination Resilient

Rigid Resilient

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
3) Clasp
considerations

2) Clasp design:
Clasps could either be:
-Passive produces less stresses
-Active produces more stresses

Clasps should be designed to be passive during rest and

function, and activated only during removal.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
3) Clasp
considerations

3) Material used for clasp construction:

Materials used to construct clasps are:
-Gold
Flexible
-Titanium

-Chrom-cobalt Rigid

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
3) Clasp
considerations

4) Contact with tooth surface:

The greater the contact

The greater the stresses

That’s why wrought wires produce less
stresses than cast clasps as wrought
wire has line contact, while cast clasps
have area contact.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
4) Occlusion

1) Harmonious occlusion:
Harmonious and balanced occlusion

Less stresses transmitted to the teeth

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
4) Occlusion

2) Opposing teeth:
Opposing dentition
Natural dentition Artificial teeth

Force exerted=300 pound Force exerted=30 pounds

More stresses Less stresses

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
4) Occlusion

3) Occlusal table:
The less the area of occlusal table

The less the stresses transmitted to tooth

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
5) Design
considerations

Direct retention is very important in reducing stresses,

this is enhanced by:
1) Adhesion and cohesion:
This is achieved by intimate contact and maximum
extension of bases.
2) Atmospheric pressure:
Plays a small role by getting peripheral seal, however it
does not have a big effect in RPD.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
5) Design
considerations

3) Frictional contact between teeth and denture:

This is done by designing guiding planes of suitable
number and design.

4) Neuromuscular control of patient:

This depends on patient’s adaptability to the denture.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
5) Design
considerations

5) Clasp configuration:

Bilateral Tripod Quadrilateral

(Class I) (Class II, III) (Class III mod 1)

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
6) Abutment tooth
surface

-Smooth enamel surface will induce less stress than a

rough surface.

-Gold crowns provides more frictional resistance to

movement of clasp than enamel therefore induces more
stresses.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
 Factors affecting magnitude of stress
transmitted to the abutment teeth
7) Response of oral
structures to
previous stresses

Previous stresses applied on the oral structures affects the

following factors:
1) Periodontal condition of remaining teeth.
2) The need for splinting.
3) The amount of abutment support remaining.

Textbook of Prosthodontics- Deepak Nallaswamy 2)Prof. Dr. Ahlam el Sharkawy- Principles of design 2007 )1
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