Mohamed Nabil Hassan, Nadia Ahmed Abbas And Mohamed Faroukabdallah,

ABSTRACT
Purpose:The Aim Of This In-vitro Study Was To Compareto The Retention Of Esthetic Saddle Lock Clasp Versus Conventional (Aker) Clasps In Bilateral Bounded Removable Partial Denture Cases.

Materials and Methods: Two Standard Experimental Models Of Maxillary Edentulous Case (Kennedy Class III With Modification I) Missing Right And Left Second Premolar And First Molar Were Fabricated To Be Used As A Master Model To Simulate The Oral Cavity. Eleven Cobalt-chromiums (Co-Cr) Alloy Frameworks Of Each Clasp Design Were Engaged 0.01 Inch Undercut For All Clasps, Mesiobuccal Of First Premolar And Distobuccal Of Second Molar On Both Sides For Aker And On Disto-proximal At The Axial Of The Buccal Premolar And On Mesio-proximal At The Axial Of The Buccal Molar On Both Sides Of Equipoise Clasp. The Loop Was Centralized Andsoldered Into The Major Connector.Digital Force Gauge Was Used For Both Groups To Measure The Retention. The Pulling Force Was Gradually Applied Until The Framework Was Dislodged.

Results: The Highest Mean Value Of Retention Was Found In (Aker Clasp) (94.85 ? 7.17) While, The Lowest Mean Value Of Retention Was Found In (saddle Lock Clasp) (61.06 ? 3.52). Conclusion: It Could Be Concluded That The Mean Retentive Force Required To Remove The Saddle Lock Clasp Was Found To Be Lower Than The Force Required Removing Aker Clasps.