The mechanical behaviour of cantilever fixed partial dentures in shortened dental arch therapy: a 2-D finite element analysis.

In the present study two-dimensional finite element models of two- and three-unit cantilever fixed partial dentures were created to simulate the replacement of a maxillary second premolar in a shortened dental arch. The purpose of the study was to investigate the mechanical behaviour of the two designs of fixed partial denture using the finite element method. The results indicate that the mechanical behaviour of the three-unit fixed partial denture was more favourable than that of the two-unit fixed partial denture under similar conditions of occlusal loading. Prosthesis displacement and maximum principal stresses increased substantially when loading was limited to the pontic, in particular, in the model of two-unit fixed partial denture.