Indications for bridges compared with partial dentures and implant-retained prostheses

Although the number of crowns made in the UK National Health Service more than doubled in the decade between I960 and 1990 (see Chapter 1), the number of bridges increased nearly twentyfold in the same period. Figures for bridges made under private contract are not available, but it seems almost certain that the increase has been of similar magnitude. Large increases are also reported in many other countries.