How about Partial Dentures?
Thursday, October 1, 2009 at 2:55PM Well, in my last post I discussed why it is advisable to replace missing teeth, even if you think you can get along without them. At the end I mentioned two ways to replace them too; implants and bridges. I didn't mention partial dentures.
Dentures have been used for hundreds of years and partial dentures are called that because they are designed when you have lost some, but not all teeth. Dentists call them Complete Dentures when all 
actual lower partial denturethe teeth are missing. The technology to make todays Partial Dentures is about 100 years old.
As you can see in the photos here, "partials" are a combination of acrylic and metal and attach to remaining teeth with metal "clasps"- they often look like hooks- that's what a lot of my patients call them. I had one patient say a partial denture looks like a fishing lure and I can't argue with that!
While a partial denture can replace missing teeth physically, they cannot replace natural teeth in function. They depend on support from the remaining teeth and often the gums too. So chewing pressure will overload these areas because they aren't designed by nature to take the same chewing pressure as a full set of natural teeth . They also trap food and dental plaque against teeth promoting decay and worst of all, they move when you eat. They are designed to do that to decrease the damage chewing forces can cause a tooth the denture "hooks" on to and well, they are removable.
I do make partials for some people but it's always the last thing I would recommend to replace missing teeth today. Modern dentistry has much more natural, functional and comfortable ways to replace 
missing teeth. While no one buys rotary telephones or cars that need to be physically cranked with a mechanical handle on the front to start, peolpe still ask for replacement teeth from early 20th century techology, but we can do much better.