Purpose The purpose of the study was to establish the incidence of the prescription of partial denture design by dentists and also to establish the nature of clasp design, if prescribed. Basic procedures Data relating to cobalt-chromium partial dentures were collected from filed slips from a dental laboratory that provided fabricated cobalt-chromium partial dentures for hospital and general dental practitioners. The data collected related to whether or not there was a design for the prosthesis and, also, to the design of clasp (gingivally or occlusally approaching). Main findings Only 39% of slips had evidence of a partial denture design and of those, 41.5% involved the prescription of an inappropriate design of clasp. Principal conclusions The incidence of partial denture design by a group of dentists using a commercial dental laboratory is unacceptably low. Despite evidence advocating the use of gingivally-approaching clasps on teeth anterior to (and including) premolars, there is still an unacceptably high level of the use of occlusally-approaching designs.