The initial findings are crucial for determining the time and the extent of possible prosthetic treatment. The patients to be fitted with a prosthesis are divided into several groups, on the basis of the present state and the reaction of the masticatory organ to external irritation, into resistant and insufficient states. The topography (not the number) of abutment teeth, the relationship of the edentulous parts of the jaw to the number of remaining teeth, the extent and the course of future prosthetic surfaces, the possibility of the equilibrium and distribution of force, the antagonistic relationship of the teeth with each other and hygienic factors limit the prosthetic possibilities. The free-end saddle represents a particular problem in the fitting of a dental prosthesis; its variant forms are discussed and, on the basis of many years of successful controls, the possibility and the limitations for the fitting of prostheses were pointed out.