Terminology Used in Bridgework

  • Abutment = tooth to which a bridge or partial denture is attached
  • Framework = structure connecting to abutments in order to carry pontic
  • Retainer = part of the bridge framework which fit the restoration (crown, inlay) of abutment and is connected with this restoration
  • Pontic = artificial tooth as a part of a bridge
  • Connector = part of the bridge framework attaching pontic to retainer. Connectors can be rigid or norigid (male-female-locking arrangements)
  • Span = space between natural teeth that is to be filled by the bridge
  • Saddle = is the area of the edentulous ridge over which the pontic will lie
  • Pier = abutment tooth supporting two pontics, each pontic being attached to a further abutment tooth
  • Unit = when applied to bridgework, means either retainer or a pontic. A bridge with two retainers and one pontic would therefore be a three-unit bridge
  • Member = when applied to bridgework, means replaced tooth. A bridge replacing two teeth would therefore be a two-member bridge
  • Substructure = bundle of reinforcement fibers
  • Suprastructure = structure creating anatomical shape and contour of pontic over the bridge framework
  • Slot/Box = rectangle hollow of the hubic shape in the distal or mesial side of the teeth, no shoulders
  • Groove = long shallow semicircular channel which lies on the oral side on the tooth; used mostly for incisors
  • Inlay = restoration, which lies inside the cusp tips of a tooth (MO: mesio-occlusal, MOD: mesio-occlusal distal) – intracoronar restoration
  • Onlay = more extensive restoration that cover one or more cusps of a tooth, clasiffied as smallest extracoronal restoration
  • Complete crown = restoration covering the entire anatomy of a tooth´s clinical crown
  • Partial crown = restoration covering more than half but not all of the tooth´s clinical crown. A partial crown is named according to the fractional amount of the clinical crown it covers (three-quarters, four-fifth, seven-eights)

Types of Bridge Retainers:

  • Complete crown
  • Partial crown
  • Onlay
  • Inlay
  • Groove
  • Slot
  • Non invasive/extracoronal – wings
  • Non invasive/extracoronal – splint (Rochette´s splint)


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