Now a day?s dentistry has progressed that even a person at the age of 90 years can have full compliment of teeth. The branch of dentistry dealing with artificial teeth and any missing facial parts such as eye, ear, nose or lips is called as Prosthodontics. Your missing teeth can be replaced by an artificial removable or a fixed prosthesis. Well, both these prosthesis are made as per your own personal, aesthetic and functional preference.

Why a Prosthodontist?
They provides an extremely high level of care for patients who have missing teeth or have significant damage to their existing teeth. Training includes crowns, bridges, dentures, cosmetics, tempromandibular joint dysfunction, maxillofacial prosthesis and Dental implants. They also deal with congenital defects as well as problems arising from trauma and cancer. Dental Implants are in fact replica of tooth root, which is placed in your jaw during a small surgery. These are inert metal screws made of a special metal called as Titanium. These screw shaped titanium are placed at a pre-determined location for the tooth inside the bone. Later on once the bone anchors this metal screw, artificial tooth is placed on this screw. This kind of implant-supported tooth is completely similar to original tooth in terms of structure, esthetics and function. Titanium is a well-known metal for its biocompatibility. It is being used for more than a century now for orthopedic purposes. This kind of implant can also be used for supporting multiple teeth or complete denture. Implants have an edge over the conventional fixed prosthesis that in this procedure, preparation of adjacent teeth is not required. The only disadvantage is that the implant is costing little above twenty thousand per teeth and which is out of reach for most of our population. There is good news that the efforts are on to devise indigenous implants in India. Once this project is over, the cost will reduce significantly and common man will be able to afford it.

The most striking advancement in this branch is related to Maxillo-facial Prosthesis. In which we can replace missing facial parts and reduce or hide the disfigurement. We commonly see the patients of trauma and cancer of head and neck area with significant disfiguration and visible defects on face. With the recent advances, implants are now being used for supporting other devices and maxillo-facial prosthesis. Now with these advancements it will be possible to hide such deformities and defects. In this technique, missing part of the face is fabricated with the help of acrylic resin and over this a covering resembling skin is given, which is made of a special material called as silicone. This gives resemblance to remaining skin and the defect is repaired.
Patients contemplating dental implants or major changes in their appearances with the use of crown, bridges, smile designing and ceramic laminates should consult with a Prosthodontist to assure that they are gaining the best possible care for their dentition.
Dr. Vinod Chandel MDS. (Prosthodontics) AIIMS New Delhi
Advanced Dental Care,Prosthodontic and Implant Centre
SCO 157/1 Sector 37-C, Chandigarh
Phone no. 2691001, 09815131898