Provisional fixed partial dentures represent a critical phase in dental treatment, necessitating heightened mechanical durability, particularly in comprehensive and extended treatment plans. Strengthening these structures with various reinforcing materials offers a method to enhance their resilience. Utilizing a three-point testing methodology on standardized trial specimens allows for a comparative assessment of various materials and reinforcement techniques for pre-prosthetic applications. This study aims to validate and assess the significance of integrating different reinforcing materials into standardized test bodies. The study focuses on test specimens comprising three types of unreinforced laboratory and clinical polymers for provisional constructions (n = 6)—heat-cured PMMA (Superpont C+B, Spofa Dental, Czech Republic), CAD-CAM prefabricated PMMA (DD temp MED, Dental Direkt, Germany), CAD-CAM printing resin (Temporary CB Resin, FormLabs, USA), self-polymerizing PEMA (DENTALON plus, Kulzer, Germany), light-polymerizing composite (Revotek LC, GC, Japan), and dual-polymerizing composite (TempSpan, Pentron, USA). Additionally, laboratory polymers are evaluated in groups with five types of reinforcing filaments (n = 15)—Glass Fiber (Fiber Splint One-Layer, Polydentia, Switzerland), Polyethylene thread (Ribbond Regular 4.0 mm, Ribbond Inc., USA), triple-stranded chrome-cobalt wire for splinting 015″ (Leone S.p.a., Italy), Aesthetic ligature wire 012″ (Leone S.p.a., Italy), and Glass Fiber coated with light-cured composite 8.5 × 0.2 mm (Interlig, Angelus, Brazil). Analysis of the data using Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) reveals that the experimental bodies, produced via the subtractive digital method using PMMA (DD temp MED, Dental Direkt GmbH, Germany) as the polymer and glass filaments as the reinforcement, exhibit superior mechanical properties, particularly when pre-wetted with Interlig liquid composite (Angelus, Brazil).

Purpose: Based on a historical review of the development of "dental grills" to critically analyze and conduct a survey on patient's view on "dental grills" about the medico-biological indicators - functional, aesthetic and preventive. Material/Methods: A web search on related keywords was conducted, and the articles related to the phenomenon were analyzed. A direct survey was conducted, with a questionnaire containing 7 questions. Results: We found a serious historical and cultural background of dental decorations on front teeth in the literature. For the first time in Bulgaria, a pilot survey was conducted among patients to assess the various medical and biological indicators in the application of dental decorations (grillz). The majority of patients (77.8%) that participated in the study were aware of the "grillz" phenomenon. Attitudes are rather negative towards their qualities in relation to the three medico-biological indicators - functional, preventive and aesthetic. The same applies to the social appropriation of people wearing these decorations. Conclusion: Decorations on front teeth have a profound history in many cultures and also contemporary manifestations but have not been sufficiently studied. Among dental patients in Bulgaria, attitudes are rather negative towards their qualities in relation to the three medico-biological indicators - functional, aesthetic and preventive.

Background: Maximum bite force is the maximum force that a pаtient can reproduce without causing periodontal pain in teeth. The study aimed to clinically investigate the maximum bite force in patients prosthetized with test specimens of preliminary constructions (with/without reinforcement) and derive recommendations for practice. Methods: A total of 30 patients (18 males and 12 females), aged between 45 and 59 years, with distal partially edentulous conditions, were treated with preliminary constructions (PCs) at the Faculty of Dental Medicine, Medical University – Sofia. For the study of each patient, four identically shaped bridge constructions from different materials were fabricated in the laboratory: a metal-ceramic bridge; a subtractive PMMA bridge; an additive solid bridge; additive bridge with reinforcement. The study of the maximum bite force for the different constructions was carried out using a universal gnathodynamometric system. Results: The Friedman test revealed a statistically significant relationship between the maximum bite force and the type of preliminary construction, p < 0.001. The subsequent post-hoc pairwise analysis provided clarifying data on the differences between the types of constructions, as follows: The metal-ceramic construction demonstrates a significantly higher maximum bite force (median median 117 N) compared to the other constructions: printed-reinforced (median median 105 N; p = 0.001); printed (median median 77 N; p < 0.001); and milled (median 86 N; p < 0.001). Conclusion: Since metal-ceramic frameworks are inherently permanent prosthetic constructions, the scientific focus of our study is on the other three groups of preliminary constructions, each of which may be the object of choice in long-term preliminary prosthetics.