588ALL ABOUT DENTAL PONTICS: BRIDGING THE GAP - A REVIEWPontics is an artificial tooth of a fixed partial denture that replaces the mixing tooth, restores its function and appearance and occupies the space of the missing tooth. It is the raison d’etre of the fixed partial denture. The word pontic is derived from the Latin word “PONS”, which means bridge. Mere replacement of tooth does not serve the purpose of pontics, because a pontic should be in harmony with adjacent teeth. Placing an exact anatomic replica is hygienically unmanageable as gingival surface of the pontic is not accessible to the patient to maintain efficient hygiene. In the present article, a review is presented on pontic designing with emphasis on esthetics, function, ease of cleansing, maintenance of healthy tissue & Patient comfort.naeem_bds@yahoo.co.inReview782017Pontics,Tooth,Abutment,Fixed,RestorationMulla Anam Nagib,Agarwal Abhinav,Ahmad Naeem,Gaur Abhishek,Pandey Kaushik,Ali Mariyam Post- Graduate student, Department of Prosthodontics, CPGIDS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India, Post- Graduate student, Department of Prosthodontics, CPGIDS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India,Reader,Department of Prosthodontics, CPGIDS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India,Reader,Department of Prosthodontics, CPGIDS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India,Senior Lecturer,Department of Prosthodontics, CPGIDS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.,Professor & HOD, Department of Prosthodontics, CPGIDS, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India.