Thirty-Year Clinical Performance of Double-Crown Retained Removable Partial Dentures – A Practice Based Retrospective Study

This retrospective study evaluated the clinical long-term survival of 1,405 double-crown retained removable partial dentures (DRPDs) over 30 years of follow-up. Kaplan-Meier survival rates for DRPDs were 96.6% after 5 years, 88.2% after 10 years, 61.7% after 20 years, and 38.3% after 30 years. Survival rates of abutment teeth were 94.3% after 5 years, 80.2% after 10 years, 51% after 20 years, and 27% after 30 years. Key failure risk factors of DRPDs were age, ≤ 3 abutment teeth, and complete denture in opposing jaw. Abutment teeth failure risk factors included age, anterior abutment teeth, punctual support, and nonvital teeth.