In the course of life, natural teeth can fall out or be extensively damaged. Possible reasons for this include periodontal disease, caries and other inflammations. Teeth can also wear down and become brittle. Accidents also often lead to tooth loss.
 
Dental prostheses are the replacement of one or more missing teeth. Occasionally, this is also referred to as “prosthodontics”; however, strictly speaking, dental prosthodontics is the dental specialty that explicitly deals with the planning, production and insertion of dental prostheses.