title: Patients' preference for acrylic resin major connector analogues formulated for titanium alloy removable partial dentures.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Aim of this study was to determine patients' preference to acrylic resin major connector analogues (MCA) that simulated strengthened major connector designs formulated for Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four MCA namely wide design (Wide), design with 2 strengthening ridges (2SR), design with 1 strengthening ridge (1SR), and thick design (Thick) were fabricated using light-polymerizing acrylic resin for 10 patients with Kennedy Class I or II partially edentulous maxillary arches. They were asked to wear each MCA in the mouth for 30 seconds in 6 pairs, and to report their preference for each pair. Using these data the 4 MCA were ranked in a descending preference order for each patient. A within-subject comparison of preferences was performed with the Friedman test and multiple comparisons with Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A statistically significant preference order was revealed: Wide, 1SR, 2SR, and Thick (P < 0.008). The wide design (P < 0.004) and the 1SR (P < 0.01) were significantly preferred to the thick design. However, individual data showed that the first preference varied depending upon the subject.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Thinner designs tended to be preferred to the thicker design by the subjects, while none of the designs tested were consistently selected as the best design.
authors.affiliation: Removable Prosthodontics, Masticatory Function Rehabilitation, Graduate School, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, Japan. ranjrpro@tmd.ac.jp
authors.forename: Ranjith Wasantha
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Pallegama
authors.forename: Kumiko
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aridome
authors.forename: Kazuyoshi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baba
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ohyama
mesh_terms: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D000368:Aged; D003722:Dental Alloys; D003779:Denture Design; D003781:Denture Retention / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003832:Denture, Partial, Removable; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008437:Maxilla; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014025:Titanium
chemical_list: D000180:Acrylic Resins; D003722:Dental Alloys; C070282:Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy; D014025:Titanium