Byline: HASSAN NAVEED, MALIK SALMAN AZIZ, AYUB HASSAN, WAHEEDULLAH KHAN and AZAD ALI AZAD

ABSTRACT

Aim of this study was to determine of the frequency of occurrence of various patterns of partial edentulism in armed forces personnel seen at the department of Prosthodontics, Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry (AFID). Utilizing convenience sampling 1000 patients were selected. Kennedy's Classification was utilized after applying Applegate's rules to record the patterns of partial edentulism. Partial edentulism in maxillary arch , was found in 32.6% patients, while 36.8% personnel had partial edentulism in mandibular arch. The remaining 30.6% of samples had missing teeth in both arches. Kennedy's Class III was found to be the most prevalent pattern in both maxilla and mandible. Kennedy's Class III modification 1 was the most common modification encountered in both arches. Highest percentage of combination pattern found was maxillary Class III opposing mandibular Class III.

A higher frequency of partial edentulism among the younger age groups found in this study was alarming and is suggestive of the need to create awareness among armed forces health care system for timely prevention of diseases causing tooth loss.

Key words: Missing, dental arch, Kennedy's class

INTRODUCTION

Teeth are the key components of the stomatognathic system. Their loss effects speech, evokes masticatory difficulties and may result in poor aesthetics which in turn impact the quality of life. Partial prosthodontic replacement is usually required to restore these func- tions. The design of the prosthetic replacement de- pends upon the pattern of partial edentulism. In the absence of a classification system, the number of possible combinations of remaining teeth, from the absence of only one tooth in one arch to the loss of all but one tooth in both arches, is very difficult to compre-hend. A classification of partially edentulous arches not only helps to identify potential combinations of teeth to edentulous ridges, thus facilitating communication, discussion, and comprehension of the indicated pros- thetic treatment among dental colleagues, students and technicians, but also facilitates case history recording and simplifies information exchange between den- tists and the auxiliary staff.1-3

More than 65000 possible combinations of teeth and edentulous spaces in opposing arches have been estimated to exist. Several methods of partial edentulism classification, on the basis of potential combinations of teeth to ridges, have been reported in the literature.4-8 All proposed classifications have mer- its and demerits. At present, Kennedy's classification is the most widely used and accepted because of its simplicity, ease of application to all semi-dentulous situations, immediate visualization of the type of par- tially edentulous arch being considered and differentia- tion between tooth bourne and tooth tissue bourne partial dentures.9 It also permits a logical approach to the problems of design apart from making possible the application of sound principles of partial denture design. By this classification a tremendous number of possible semi dentulous combinations have been reduced to four simple groups namely Class I, Class II, Class III and Class IV.

Application of Kennedy's classification is however difficult in every situation without...