Sir, an advertisement in a recent edition (BDJ 211[9]) showed two examples of small unilateral removable partial dentures. There have been case reports of such small dentures being swallowed or inhaled.1,2

If there is an adverse incident, practitioners must justify their treatment planning and decisions regarding the way that treatment is provided.

It is our opinion that the decision to provide a small unilateral partial denture in acrylic resin or any other plastic material would be difficult if not impossible to defend, whether before the General Dental Council or in a court of law.

Managing Director Susan Drake responds on behalf of Sun Dental Laboratories (UK) Ltd: Our technicians are regularly questioned by dentists about the possibility of that problem arising and how this could be alleviated.

The reply from them is quite simple: it is up to the prescribing dentist to prescribe appropriate treatment for each patient; as a dental laboratory we have absolutely no influence on the prescriber's decision and as such only facilitate their prescriptions.

As we are not legal professionals we cannot comment on whether the dentist's decision would be difficult or impossible to defend at the GDC or a court of law.

The advertisement was merely a product offer as a 'temporary' replacement for patients unable to afford an implant and has now been withdrawn from further publication to avoid any confusion.