Planning and RPD mouth preparation by Brazilian dentists in digital dentistry scenario

Aim: This study aimed to verify the percentage of Brazilian dentists who plan and prepare partially edentulous mouths to receive RPDs. Comparisons between Brazilian dental laboratories working with conventional and digital technology (DT) were also performed. Methods: A questionnaire hosted on the Google Forms platform was sent to dental technicians, from all Brazilian regions, who work with RPD framework manufacturers to assess: (1) the technological level of the laboratory, (2) the percentage of master casts received with RPD-specific mouth preparation, and (3) the percentage of work request with RPD design sent by dentists to a laboratory. A Chi-square test was applied to analyze data and a significance level of 5% was adopted. A total of 158 dental technicians participated in this study. Results: A total of 3371 master casts were evaluated by dental technicians, including all Kennedy classifications. However, only 607 (18.01%) of them had RPD-specific mouth preparation. Dental technicians working with DT present more master casts with mouth preparation (p=0.001) and work requests (p=0.001) compared to those who use conventional technology. In addition, no difference was noted in the quality of RPD-specific mouth preparations between master casts received by technicians working with conventional and DT (p>0.05). Conclusion: Most Brazilian dentists (81.99%) do not perform RPD-specific mouth preparation. Besides, dental technicians who work with DT receive more master casts of higher quality, with mouth preparation, and work requests compared to those who do not.