Incorporating modified ovate pontic design for anterior tooth replacement: A report of two cases

Pontic is the raison'd'etre of a fixed partial denture. The design of the prosthetic tooth will be dictated by aesthetics, function, ease of cleaning, maintenance of healthy tissue on the edentulous ridge and patient comfort. Proper design is more important for hygiene and good tissue health than the choice of material. An ovate pontic has been recommended to fulfill both aesthetic and functional requirements. The convex design of this pontic was intended to form a concave soft tissue outline in the site of the alveolar ridge mucosa. Clinically healthy conditions can be established at pontic sites if appropriate plaque control is performed. As the ovate pontic suffers from certain disadvantages, the modified ovate pontic design was developed to circumvent the problems encountered with the ovate pontic. A report of two cases will be presented where the modified ovate pontic design was employed for replacing upper anterior teeth.