Partial Dentures

A partial denture fills the spaces left by missing teeth and stops the remaining teeth changing position. Removable partials usually consist of replacement teeth on a gum-coloured base, with a metal framework and clasps that connect to your own teeth — or other, more natural-looking connectors.

In some cases a partial is made to attach to your natural teeth with precision attachments, which look better than clasps but cost more, and often need crowns on the supporting teeth.

Newer flexible removable partial dentures are increasingly used, for temporary or sometimes permanent replacement. Instead of metal clasps they have thin finger-like extensions that snap into natural concavities in the crowns of the teeth near the gum line. The realistic gum-coloured base can be made to cover areas where gum tissue has receded and partly exposed the roots, so they give an immediate aesthetic improvement as well.