The purpose of the present study was to assess the magnitude of biting force in three different
partial denture designs.
Methodology: A total of ten patients with mandibular bilateral free end saddles without
modification (Unmodified class I) were included in this study. All patients received three successive
partial denture designs (conventional, extra-coronal attachment and posterior implant with bar
attachment successively). Each design was used for 4 months intervals. The mean biting force was
measured at the time of insertion and after 4 months for each design.
Results: One way ANOVA followed by Post Hoc test was made to check the significance within
each group and between groups of different designs for the biting force measurements. The data
revealed that the magnitude of biting force at insertion was 44.425+6.21398, 84.1050+5.93779 and
129.1900+7.92749 for conventional, extracoronal attachment and implant bar attachment design
respectively, while after 4 month it was 49.4900+5.41002, 90.1850+6.36713 & 142.5700+7.49098
for conventional, extracoronal attachment and implant bar attachment design respectively.
Conclusion: Within the limitation of this study it can be concluded that:
1- Using a posterior implant with bar supporting and retaining removable partial denture is a
viable treatment option for free end saddle cases.
2- Significant improvement in biting force occurred by changing the design from conventional to
extra-coronal attachment and from extra-coronal to implant bar attachment.