Methods of dental restoration

1. Removable partial denture

To manufacture one removable partial denture, the doctor must grind down the existing teeth near the site of the missing teeth to support the denture. The denture is mainly made of plastic and fixed to the existing teeth by steel wires. A patient with a removable partial denture should clean the denture after meals and before sleep, and store it in cool clean water.

2. Fixed bridge supported by nature teeth

To restore one missing tooth, the doctor grinds the two adjacent teeth into abutments (studs) for the bridge. A fixed bridge, which consists of three teeth, is manufactured and cemented to the studs by the dentist. The bridge is supported by the adjacent natural teeth or tooth roots.

3. Dental implant

A dental implant can be regarded as a man-made tooth root which is placed in the site of the missing tooth. After several months of healing, a crown is fixed to the implant. Neither an adjacent tooth nor gingival tissue is necessary to support the prothesis.

• Dental implants and disadvantages of missing teeth
• What are the disadvantages of dental implants?