A 32 year old female patient wants to get her missing tooth replaced but does not want to get dental implants placed. Intra-oral examination reveals a missing 46. 45 and 47 were prepared to receive a 3 unit fixed dental prosthesis. What type of stress will be experienced on the occlusal surface of this prosthesis?

Subjecting a structure such as an FDP to three-point loading, whereby the endpoints are fixed and a force is applied between these endpoints, tensile stress develops on the tissue side of the FDP, and compressive stress develops on the occlusal side. Between these two areas is the neutral axis that represents a state with no tensile stress and no compressive stress.