Before dental implants, missing teeth were replaced using other teeth or tissues (edentulous ridges) for support.
The replacement prosthetic teeth may have been removable. You may have visions of an elderly’s removable false teeth in a glass on the bedside table. These removable dentures could be complete, to replace all of the teeth in an arch, or partial to replace one or more for a partially edentulous arch.
If the goal was to replace one, or a few teeth in a dental arch, a “fixed” partial denture could have been designed providing sound teeth both in front of and behind the space. If the missing tooth was the last (most posterior) tooth, often a cemented-type partial denture “bridge” could not be planned.
