FAILURE OF DENTAL BRIDGES .2. PREVALENCE OF FAILURE AND ITS RELATION TO PLACE OF CONSTRUCTION

In this investigation 156 dental bridges, constructed for 132 individu als, were evaluated. The bridges inserted at the College of Dentistry, King Saud University (KSU), Saudi Arabia, were compared with those pl aced in general dental practice. The results revealed that the rate of bridge failure averaged 35.5%. This was made up from failure of bridg es inserted at KSU at (15.4%) and those in general dental practice (46 .2%). The major reasons for failure revealed by this study were period ontal disease (36.6%) and secondary caries (23.2%). The average lifesp an for the bridges was 6.1 years with 4.5 years for the unfailed bridg es. The most commonly used material for bridges was metal-ceramics. Th e most commonly used pontic design was the modified ridge lap (50.8%), but the saddle type accounted for the greatest percentage of failures (59.6%).