Interventions for replacing missing teeth: partially absent dentition

There is insufficient evidence to recommend a particular method of tooth replacement for partially edentulous patients.

Comment: The quality of evidence is downgraded by imprecise results (few patients for each comparison), by inconsistency (unexplained variability in results), by study limitations and by indirectness (differences between the outcomes of interest and those reported).

Summary

A Cochrane review comparing different methods of treating partial edentulism included 21 studies. There was insufficient evidence to determine whether one type of removable dental prosthesis (RDP) was better or worse than another. With fixed dental prostheses (FDPs), there was no evidence that high gold alloys are better or worse than other alloys, nor that gold alloys or frameworks are better or worse than titanium. There is insufficient evidence to determine whether zirconia is better or worse that other FDP materials, that ceramic abutments are better or worse than titanium, or that one cement was better or worse than another in retaining FDPs. There is insufficient evidence to determine the relative effectiveness of FDPs and RDPs in patients with shortened dental arch or to determine the relative advantages of implant supported FDPs versus tooth/implant supported FDPs.

Clinical comments

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Ədəbiyyat

1. Abt E, Carr AB, Worthington HV. Interventions for replacing missing teeth: partially absent dentition. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2012;(2):CD003814.