PROSTHODONTICS

also called Prosthodontia, dental specialty concerned with restoration and maintenance of oral function, appearance, and comfort by use of prostheses. The oral prostheses replacing teeth may be removable dentures or partial dentures or permanently fixed tooth prostheses, connected to remaining teeth or implanted in the alveolar bone. Other prostheses include crowns and caps that replace the outer portions of teeth and protect the remaining structure. Prosthodontics also provides oral prostheses to correct deformities, such as cleft palate, and to replace alveolar bone in order to provide underlying support for dentures. Maxillofacial prosthodontics, a subspecialty of prosthodontics, is concerned with the correction of deformities of the face and head and restoration of normal function by means of prostheses. Deformities may be congenital, acquired (through trauma or surgical treatment, as of cancer), or developmental (stemming from some other disorder). Prostheses are also used as an interim measure to correct defects until surgical reconstruction can be undertaken.