New Ways of Designing Suprastructures for Fixed Implant-Supported Prostheses

The replacement of lost teeth and tooth-bearing tissues with implant-supported prostheses often forced both dentist and technician to choose removable overdentures because they were the only treatment modality possible. By means of a clinical case, this article demonstrates a new approach in framework design that not only expands the limitat ions of conventional ceramometal implant prostheses, but also eliminates a great number of the hazards that cause implant failure with a new type of suprastructure. The technique enables both the clinican and the technician to apply all of the esthetic possibilities of tooth-supported metal ceramic crown and bridge techniques. This technique combines screw and cementation retention without changing the original treatment protocol. A new casting technique introduced by Sonntag and a new specially developed alloy was used. Essentially, the reconstructive body has been broken down into a screw-retained soft tissue/bone-replacing part using a one-piece casting technique, and a crown-replacing part to be provisionally cemented with a large variety of new possibilities.