An RPD is a prosthesis for replacing missing teeth and related tissues. It restores the patient's appearance, improves speech, assists mastication and maintains a healthy, stable relationship between the remaining natural teeth. RPDs remain a major treatment modality for oral rehabilitation in partially dentate patients who form a large proportion of the adult population (40-60% in Europe). In England and Wales provision of RPDs increased from 228,000 in 1949 to 682,000 in 1994 at a cost in that year of $75M.

Davenport JC, Hammond P, Hazlehurst P. Knowledge-based systems, removable partial denture design and the development of RaPiD. Dent Update. 1997 Jul-Aug;24(6):227-33. [PubMed]   []

" Knowledge-based systems (KBS), otherwise and formerly known as 'expert systems', are computer programs that contain a representation of knowledge that can be used to solve problems normally requiring human intelligence. This article discusses the contributions such systems can make to medicine and dentistry, indicates the range of existing dental KBSs and gives reasons why removable partial denture (RPD) design has attracted so much attention in this respect. A description is also given of the 'RaPiD' system for designing RPDs at the chairside. "

Davenport JC, Hammond P, de Mattos MG. The acquisition and validation of removable partial denture design knowledge. II. Design rules and expert reaction. J Oral Rehabil. 1996 Dec;23(12):811-24. [PubMed]   []

" Details are presented of the reaction of multiple prosthetic experts in 17 dental schools in the U.K. to 125 design rules for removable partial dentures. Those rules receiving support from 50% of the schools are candidates for inclusion in RaPiD, a knowledge-based assistant for the design of removable partial dentures. "

Davenport JC, Hammond P. The acquisition and validation of removable partial denture design knowledge. I. Methodology and overview. J Oral Rehabil. 1996 Mar;23(3):152-7. [PubMed]   []

" The authors report on the eliciting of the partial denture design expertise of teachers of prosthetic dentistry. Their approach was to identify 125 design rules and then to sample expert reaction by surveying 10 experts individually and by surveying the prosthetic departments in all 17 dental schools in the British Isles. The surveys achieved a return of 100% and revealed an unsuspected consensus concerning the rules. A majority of schools were in agreement on whether or not 111 (89%) of the rules could be supported. This design expertise will be disseminated through RaPiD, a knowledge-based assistant for the design of removable partial dentures. It is expected that by incorporating into this design assistant rules which have been shown to be widely supported, the acceptability and usefulness of RaPiD for clinical education and practice will be increased. "

Hammond P, Davenport JC, Fitzpatrick FJ, Randell DA, de Mattos M. The RaPiD project: knowledge-based design of dental prostheses, Expert Systems with Applications, 9 (2) (1995). []   []

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Davenport JC, Hammond P & Fitzpatrick FJ. (1993 ) Computerised partial denture design - a knowledge-based system for the future, Dental Update, June, 221-226. []   []

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Hammond P, Davenport JC & Fitzpatrick FJ. Logic-based integrity constraints and the design of dental prostheses. Artificial Intelligence in Medicine 5 (1993) 431-446. [Eastman - UCL]

" This paper describes the ongoing development of a design assistant, RaPiD, for use in prosthetic dentistry. RaPiD integrates computer-aided design, knowledge-based systems and databases, employing a logicbased representation as the unifying medium. The user's manipulation of icons representing the developing design is interpreted as a set of transactions on a logic database of design components. The rules of design expertise are represented as constraints in first order predicate logic and design alterations are subject to the checking of the constraints. When design rules are contravened as the result of some proposed alteration, a suitable critique is presented to the user. RaPiD is being developed for use in both dental education and practice. "

Archive of AI systems in clinical practice previously administered by Enrico Coiera. Used with permission. Maintained and extended since 2001 by OpenClinical.