Abstract

During opening and closing jaw movements, it is thought that the muscles of the floor of the mouth and the Lateral Pterygoid muscles exert a contracting force upon the mandible, causing a Flexure which results in arch width changes. The mandibular rigidly connected long span FPDs that crosses the midline and extend beyond the mental foramina, supported by natural abutments or implants, may cause loosening and unnecessary stresses and strains on the prosthesis as well as on the abutments. Fabricating a prosthesis having a non-rigid connector at the mid-line offsets the Flexure effect of the mandible. In this article we will be discussing a case in which a long span mandibular FPD was given extending from first molar on one side to the first molar on the other side having a non-rigid connector at the midline to offset the flexure of the mandible.

Keywords: Mandibular Flexure; Long Span FPDs; Non Rigid Connector

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