Efficacy of Natural Tooth Pontic in Periodontally Compromised Patients

Abstract

Periodontitis is a major concern for the dentist because the destruction of periodontal fibers causes mobility of teeth and eventually leads to tooth loss. Conventional techniques like removable temporary acrylic prosthesis, or resin-bonded bridges hold their own disadvantages and a fixed prosthesis may worsen the existing condition. Natural tooth pontic (NTP) in such cases may be advantageous in terms of esthetics and patient satisfaction along with cost effectiveness. Hence, the aim of this review was to evaluate the efficacy of NTP in periodontally compromised patients. Electronic search on data sources such as PubMed and Google scholar along with hand searching of the articles was done in institutional library. All case reports and case series were included in English language published till October 31, 2019, were included. After applying inclusion and exclusion criteria, ten articles were selected for the present review. The whole process was conducted by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews guidelines. Our review noted that all the patients were satisfied with the appearance of the tooth and also comfortable in maintaining the oral hygiene as these pontics had a ridge lap design. Survival rate was 100% except for the case series which reported a survival rate of 75% while few others did not report anything since no follow-up was conducted. Overall NTP was well accepted by the patients. NTP can be of a great option as prosthesis in the patients with compromised periodontium. Patient's positive satisfaction, cost viability, and accomplishment of appearance in the esthetic zone of the oral cavity make this strategy as a valuable treatment option.