Multiple Missing Teeth-Partial Edentulism

The use of Dental Implants for patients who are missing multiple teeth is rapidly growing.  When multiple teeth are missing there are two basic ways (other than dental implants) to choose from.  A fixed-bridge whose span an even greater than a three-unit bridge and is under more stress and danger.  For example, a Patient with two missing teeth, a four-unit fixed bridge is going to fail even quicker and easier than a three-unit bridge.  If those two supporting abutment teeth are lost then the patient has four missing teeth rather than two.  The other replacement option is a removable partial denture.  Yuck.  Removable Partial Dentures to replace missing teeth has one of the worst patient acceptance rate of almost anything.  The only thing accepted less is when the patient has full removable dentures with no implant support.  Its been reported that 60% of patients don’t wear their partials within a 5 year time period.  When patients actually wear their removable partial dentures bad things usually happen to the supporting teeth.  The teeth that support the partial, you know, the ones with the ugly metal clips that show when you smile get damaged.  These teeth become loose, broken, decayed and worn.  Eventually they become so damaged that they must be sacrificed and extracted.  These supporting teeth show significant bone loss, which leads to these teeth becoming loose and eventually extracted.  Again, dental implants have become the most predictable and preventative treatment available to most patients.  I have been a dentist in Quincy  since 1978.  I have been restoring implants since 1978 also.  After attending the Misch Surgical Institute, I achieved Fellowship status in the International Congress of Oral Implantology.