Assessment of partial edentulism based on Kennedy’s class IV classification-retrospective study

Abstract

Kennedy’s classification provides immediate visualization, recognition of prosthesis support and assessment of design features of removable partial denture. Missing Teeth in patients with the long span Kennedy class IV situation demands biomechanical balance and aesthetic improvement. The long-span condition complicates the problem because of the unavailability of sufficient number of abutments to support the prosthesis. Conventional removable prosthesis and fixed partial denture are not advised for the same reason. The system of classifying the partially edentulous arch would be an enormous aid in providing a precise word picture of a particular dental arch that is to be discussed. Aim was to determine the prevalence of Kennedy’s class IV classification among the partial edentulous patients residing in chennai who had undergone treatment for the replacement of missing tooth in the department of Prosthodontics,saveetha dental college,chennai,India. Study samples of 1341 cases were obtained from the data of 86000 patients between June 2019 and March 2020. Statistical software used for analysis was the SPSS(statistical package for the social sciences) which is designed by IBM and the statistical tests used were frequency tables along with bar graphs to analyse and compare the obtained results. The results showed that the patients with Kennedy’s class IV were found to be the most prevalent in the male population. The findings of the present study showed that Prevalence of partial edentulism based on Kennedy’s class IV was commonly occuring in the male population and also reveals that lower arch has a higher incidence of Kennedy’s class IV.