Retention in Conventional Fixed Partial Dentures: A Review

The long-term clinical outcome of fixed prosthodontic treatment depends on guidelines that promote the creation of mechanically, biologically, and aesthetically sound tooth preparations. Successful tooth preparation and success of subsequent restoration depend on important factors like retention and resistance form. The quality of a preparation that prevents the restoration from becoming dislodged by such forces parallel to the path of withdrawal is known as retention. For good retention in fixed prosthesis, there are various factors starting from the size of the teeth, magnitude of dislodging forces, geometry of tooth preparation, roughness of fitting surface, cement to be used and the film thickness of luting agent. The purpose of this article is to review and enumerate all the retention factors, which are necessary to increase the clinical longevity of the restoration that could be considered permanent in the traditional sense.