thermosens, valplast flexibles design

[mike sways]

Hi there just starting out in the feild of this type of denture , Iam finding it hard to nail down designs and most clients leave it up to me to design for them , can any one please enlighten me as to so called dos and donts for this type of denture. eg dont use undercuts on teeth , or use tissue undercuts only? a mixture of both ? any help appreciated. thankyou

 

[TheLabGuy]

It depends where the undercuts are really and what type of appliance you are using. For instance, a unilateral flexible may have to use some part of the tooth (the cervical 1/3) to get enough undercut and that can be achieved pretty easily on the posteriors without affecting the aesthetics. However, most flexible's are "tissue retained" versus the metal RPD's where they are "tooth retained", flexibles use the tissue for retention. There is some research into 'Wolfs Law' where flexibles actually stimulate the tissue/bone, which stops the bone from eventually receding in the edentulous area. In the end though, I would always try to get my retention on the tissue and in very rare cases ever need to use the teeth to get the undercut required for retention. Hope that helps.

 

[AJEL]

Search arLund Flexite site should give you some ideas, or take course. It's worth taking a 2 days to jump start you on flexible so. http://flexitecompany.com/our-products/

 

[JTG]

I have always gone with a combonation of both. I put a little more on the post teeth where its less visible and try more on the tissue in the ant so I can ensure my clasps are as low on the tooth as possible. I agree with AJEL, the classes are worth it if you are able to attend. Just an fyi, if your drs are complaing about them being too tight (and you are providing proper blockout) make sure they are giving you alginate impressions for less compression on the tissue. That's always taken care of 90% of my "too tight" complaints.