Survey

Survey
Design
Introduction to Design
All removable partial dentures must be designed to preserve
and maintain what remains, as well as fill in the missing
dentulous spaces – tooth as well as tissue
PRINCIPLES
 The design of free-end extension partials must compensate
for the slight MOVEMENT which occurs during function
 So the remaining oral structures will not be damaged

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  The RPD must be PASSIVE
 Exert no force when not in function, so that the remaining oral
structures will not be damaged
 Other wise the appliance may act as an orthodontic appliance and
cause unwanted movement of the teeth
 The RPD must be COMFORTABLE
 Without comfort , it will be a failure
 The RPD must be pleasingly AESTHETIC
 No excessive display of metal, or the patient may discard the
appliance
 The design should be as SIMPLE as possible
 Simplicity of design helps produce a comfortable RPD
 Aids in maintenance of oral tissue
 Is more aesthetic

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Design Goals
 Support
 The foundation on which a dental prosthesis rests
 That which stops it from moving toward the tissue
 Denture base area, rests, including metal and acrylic
 Stability
 the quality of a prosthesis to be firm, constant and stable
 Rests, major and minor connectors
 Retention
 The quality of a prosthesis to resist displacement by function,
or horizontal and vertical stresses
 Clasp assembly

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 6 Uses of a Surveyor
 Surveying the study cast
 Contouring wax patterns for cast restorations on
abutment teeth for RPD
 Placement of precision attachments in wax patterns for
RPD
 Placement of precision rest
 Machining cast restorations, with the use of a hand
piece holder
 Surveying the master cast

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Surveying

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Surveying
 A clasp partial is retained by having the tip of the clasp
arm engage an undercut on the abutment tooth
 Undercuts on abutment teeth are either desirable or
undesirable
 Desirable undercuts are utilized for retention
 All other undercuts are undesirable – because rigid portions of the
partial denture cannot be placed there
 Locating the undercuts is done with a DENTAL
SURVEYOR Definition of a surveyor
 “an instrument used to determine the relative parallelism of two or more
surfaces of teeth or other portions of a cast of the dental arch

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Surveyors
 Surveyors are used to
determine relative
parallelism.
 The relative height of
contour or greatest
circumference of each tooth
is determined
 The area below the height
of contour is undercut
 Tip of clasp gains retention
 All other undercuts must be eliminated before RPD is made, either by
mouth preparation or by blocking out

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Types of Surveyors
A simple instrument –
consisting of platform
a ,
with a verticalspindle
(which is perpendicular to
the platform), the lower
end of the spindle has a
chucking device (for
attaching instruments)
A moveabletable, with a
tilting top permits a cast
to be mounted and moved
in any direction on the
base of the surveyor

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  Handout –The Dental Surveyor

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Purpose of Surveying
 To determine the path of placement
 Identify guiding planes
 Guiding planes define a path of placement, contribute to
stability, and ensure positive clasp action
 Locate undercut areas
 Evaluate soft tissue undercuts
 Evaluate aesthetics
 Determine restorative procedures
 Delineate survey lines
 Used for Tripoding the cast

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Steps in Surveying
 Analysing the cast

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  Tilting the cast to establish guide planes
 Establishing the path of insertion
 Marking survey lines
 Gauging desirable undercuts
 Tripoding
 Height of contour

•
•

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 •
•
Undercut =
• Infrabulge
• Suprabulge
Surveying Procedure
 Preliminary visual assessment of the study cast
“eye balling” the cast
 Initial surveying with the analysing rod
 Analysis by tilting the cast

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  Check for interference
 Retention
 Path of insertion
 Final survey
 Mark with graphite lead
 Tripoding
Surveying Fundamentals
 The objective in cast partial construction is to design a
cast metal framework
 which will go to place easily on the cast and in the mouth
 which will stay in place when dislodging forces tend to
unseat it.

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  Teeth are often tipped or rotated so their long axis are
not parallel
 A RPD always involves at least two teeth, usually more
 No rigid part of the partial can be expected to bend
around a bulge of the tooth. It must go into place as a
single unit
 The clasp tips, (because of their springiness) can, and will do
so
Tilting of the Cast
 “Tilting is on of the most confusing factors in
surveying and design and accomplishes very little”
 Tilting does not produce undercuts

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  Tilting determines the path of insertion
 The direction in which a patient places the partial denture in
the mouth
 Cast tilted to the anterior – denture is inserted from rear
downward and forward
 Cast tilted to the posterior – denture is inserted backward and
downward
 Studies have shown that the majority of patients insert
their RPD in their mouth in one manner, regardless of how
in was surveyed
 Straight up and down
 An odd path of insertion often caused the patients
difficulty during insertion and removal

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  In addition, many clasps that are designed to gain
retention from undercuts that have been created by tilting,
had no retention when they were placed in the mouth
Rules for Surveying – when to tilt
 Undercuts cannot be produced or created by tilting a
cast
 All casts are originally surveyed with the occlusal
plane parallel to the base of the surveyor Zero degree tilt
 Whenever possible, undesirable undercuts, and areas of
interference, are removed during mouth preparation by the
dentist (by re-contouring the teeth or making necessary
restorations)
 The cast may be tilted in the following instances
 To equalize undercuts

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  To place a clasp tip in a better position for aesthetics
 Where six anterior teeth remain in such an angle that the
survey line is at the incisal edge of the teeth at zero degree tilt
IT IS NECESSARY THAT THE CLASP TIP
BE IN AN UNDERCUT
WHICH WAS PRESENT
WHEN THE CAST WAS SURVEYED
IN ITS ZERO DEGREE TILT

An undercut cannot be created on a cone by tilting it

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Uses

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  The tip of the clasp flexes during insertion, so that it
engages an undercut on an abutment tooth
 Once the clasp is in position, it is passive and exerts no force
on the tooth except when the partial denture is removed, or when
vertical displacing forces are encountered
 Tilting will distribute the retention more equally among
several abutment teeth
 Tilting may be used minimally
 To increase desirable undercuts
 To decrease undesirable undercuts
 Tilting may improve the parallelism of a space in the
anterior of the mouth to minimise the unsightly show of
spaces or metal
 By aligning the RPD teeth with the natural teeth on either
side of the space

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  Tilting may minimise undercuts of teeth and soft tissue
to allow a more advantageous positioning of rigid parts of
the partial
 Altering the position of the cast, by tilting
 Changes the long axis of the teeth relative to the horizontal
plane
 Anterior tilt
 When the anterior of the cast is down
 Posterior tilt
 When the posterior of the cast is down
 It changes the position of the survey line in relation to
the horizontal plane
 This changes the location of the undercut and non-undercut
areas on each tooth

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Distribute the Undercuts
 A large undercut on one side, and a small undercut on
the other side, can be equalized by simply tilting the cast
 This tilting of the cast will change the path of insertion

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Path of Insertion
 The direction in which the partial denture seats itself on
the teeth
 Since the positions of all the clasps on an appliance are fixed
to each other, they must all seat in the same path of insertion

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Under-cut gauges
 One ring
 0.25 mm = 0.01”
 Two ring
 0.5 mm = 0.02”
 Three ring

 0.75 mm = 0.03”

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

  All undesirable undercuts must be eliminated before
the

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 RPD is made
 By mouth preparation
 By blocking out these undercuts on the master cast prior to
duplication
Determining undercut
 The amount of undercut which a clasp engages is
determined by the flexibility of the clasp arm
 Flexibility of a clasp arm depends on
 The metal used in the clasp – cast or wrought
 The design of the clasp
 Whether the clasp is round or half-round
 The length of the clasp arm
 The depth of the undercut
 The amount of undercut utilized

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Depth of Undercut

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Mouth Preparation

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Guide Planes
Rest Seats
Guide Planes

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Attaching the Teeth

Saddle Design
Denture Tooth Attachment
Finishing Lines
Distal-shoe Extensions
Design Theory

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 System of Design
Method 1 Method 2
 1. saddles 1 . rests
 2. support 2 . major connector
 3. retention 3 . minor connector
 4. bracing and 4 . direct retainers reciprocation
5 . Indirect retainers
 5 . connector
 6 . indirect retention

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Choosing a clasp

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Choosing a clasp

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

RPD - Introduction to Surveying
 Choosing a clasp

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Choosing a clasp

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 Stress Breakers

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 RPI Clasp

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 RPI

RPD - Introduction to Surveying

 RPI

RPD - Introduction to Surveying