ABSTRACT

Prosthetics involves the replacing of missing teeth by artificial ones. These may be full dentures (false teeth) where the patient is totally edentulous, or partial dentures where only one or more teeth are missing. Replacing missing teeth with dentures restores the normal appearance and improves mastication and speech. Most dentures, whether full or partial, are constructed out of acrylic (plastic) together with acrylic teeth. Metal may be used for the framework of partial dentures and is usually an alloy of cobalt/chrome. This has replaced the use of gold for the framework on account of its lower costs.