Technique Tips: A coping strategy (a situation where the use of copings can be helpful)

This report describes the treatment of an elderly lady who was referred to me in 2006 because she was unable to cope with a lower acrylic partial denture which she had been advised was necessary following the loss of a lower incisor tooth. She reported that her dentition had been functioning satisfactorily for 40 years without any lower back teeth, adding that she was aggrieved at paying for a denture which she felt wasn't necessary and she couldn't wear. Clinical examination (Figure 1) showed that the patient's current full upper acrylic denture was ill-fitting and damaged while clinical and radiological examination (Figures 2a and b) indicated that the remaining lower incisors had a poor prognosis.

The patient repeated that she didn't want to wear a lower denture but she wasn't in a financial position to consider dental implants.