The Post-Traumatic Syndrome

adequate vertical and buccolingual space, exacting clinical skills, and technical expertise. The patient must have reasonable manual dexterity. Maintenance is relatively simple. Among the numerous applications is the restoration of the unilateral distal-extension space. Intracoronal attachments can be placed adjacent to the denture base and in a pontic on the contralateral side. Extracoronal attachments are not quite so demanding of buccolingual space, nor of the patient's manual dexterity (Preiskel 1979). While many of the attachments allow degrees of play that complicate clinical techniques, they provide excellent retention for long periods. Comparatively rigid extracoronal attachments tend to occupy more space, but those with parallel sides may be used in conjunction with contralateral intracoronal attachments. With extracoronal attachments it is particularly important that the problems of maintenance and plaque control be known by both patient and dentist. These problems can be compounded when a fixed prosthesis and a removable restoration are to be made together. It is not just the contours of the abutments that must be designed together, but also the occlusal surfaces. After all, it is pointless producing a complex restoration that merely serves to dislodge the prosthesis in the opposing jaw.