Removable partial denture production in Scotland.

Removable partial denture production in Scotland was studied by analyzing photographs taken of consecutive casts and dentures and reviewing prescriptions of 539 cases at a large dental laboratory. Of the casts, 70.4% were maxillary and 29.6% mandibular. The mean number of teeth present was 9.9 in the maxilla and 8.4 in the mandible. Of the partial dentures studied, 33.6% were acrylate dentures without any framework. None of these had occlusal rests, and 5.6% had clasps. Of the framework-retained maxillary dentures, the palatal strap (12.9%), horseshoe (15.8%), and anterior palatal bar (18.9%) designs were the most frequent. In the mandible, lingual bars (32.7%) and lingual plates (32.7%) predominated. Of the acrylic dentures, 89.3% were made without any instruction from the dentist. The corresponding figure for prostheses with cobalt-chromium frameworks was 15.0%.