Long ago, man decided to replace his lost natural teeth when he encountered difficulties with eating and chewing on the loss of his natural teeth. Substituting artificial replacements for natural part is in teeth called ‘prosthetics’.
When the natural teeth are gone, they are replaced either by bridge work or by dentures. In bridge work, the ‘load’ of false teeth is borne by our natural teeth on either side of the gap. In a denture, the false teeth are held in place by resting on the gum or other parts under the gum.
Etruscans made bridges with false teeth about 3,000 years ago! They worked with gold. Dentures have been made for about 300 year only.
Initials problems in making both bridges and dentures involved how to make them stay in the right position, and how to make the ‘base plate material’.
In early times, false teeth were made from bone, ivory, and hippopotamus tooth! Sometimes the entire bridge or denture was carved from the same material, and it was all one piece that fitted into the mouth. Later on, individual human teeth, or the teeth of various animals, especially the sheep, were used. These were mounted on a gold or ivory base.
By the end of 18th century, teeth were made of porcelain mounted on gold or platinum base. They have a fine texture and have great strength.
Today, false teeth are matched to natural teeth so closely in colour and shape that it is hard to tell them apart!
