A dental prosthesis is a dental appliance that replaces a missing tooth or covers up tooth defects. These dental appliances include implants, crowns, bridges, dentures and veneers, and some of them can be removable or permanently fixed in your mouth.
Types of dental prosthetics
There are a variety of dental prosthetics to choose from specifically to suit the needs of each patient. Dental prosthetics can be fabricated to replace one tooth, a few teeth in a row, several teeth throughout the mouth that aren’t in a row, or all of your teeth. Prosthetics include:
- Dental bridges
- Implants
- Full dentures
- Partial dentures
Why do I need a prosthetic?
Losing a tooth may not seem like a big deal, but when there is a large space in your mouth and you realize people can see it when you smile, talk, yawn, etc., it can lead to low self-esteem. You can become embarrassed to speak and smile. Chewing without one or more teeth becomes difficult, and leaving a space between teeth can lead to other more serious dental problems. If you are missing a tooth or teeth, you need a prosthetic to:
- Restore your self-confidence
- Restore your smile
- Restore your ability to chew a variety of foods
- Restore your ability to speak without hindrance
- Replace the missing tooth/teeth so your remaining teeth do not shift or drift into the empty space, which will eventually result in misalignment