Clinical performance of Rochette bridges used as immediate temporary restorations

Objective: This retrospective clinical study was designed to assess the survival of Rochette bridges used as immediate provisional restorations for single tooth, implant-retained crowns. Method: The extracted tooth was immediately temporised using a Rochette bridge with a single wing and pontic and cemented to the abutment tooth without any tooth preparation (phase 1). This bridge was removed at the time of implant placement and recemented (phase 2). At the implant exposure stage the bridge was removed and discarded. Results: Recementation of bridges was required for 15.9% in phase 1, 27.5% in phase 2 and 7.2% in both phases. An 80% probability of survival was observed after an interval of 200 days for phase 1 and a 78% probability of survival over the same time interval was observed for phase 2. A significant debond rate was observed when the retainer was a canine in comparison to the other bridges in phase 1. In phase 1 the spring cantilever debond rate was significantly higher than that observed on the other cantilever bridges. More debondings were observed in males (26%) compared with females (8%) in phase 1. More debondings were noted in the maxilla than in the mandible in phase 2. Conclusions: The performance characteristics of the metal and acrylic Rochette bridges observed in this report supports the conclusion that this type of restoration on unprepared teeth is an effective means of immediate temporization for patients undergoing single tooth implant retained restorations.