Alot of people have had some difficult experiences at the dental clinic
which leave them with bad impressions for life.  That's unfortunate
because it usually prevents them from receiving good preventive care and
restorative work that may be urgently needed.  They tend to wait until
something hurts which forces them to go in, and then the problem is
usually more serious.  It's kind of a downward spiral type of effect.

   Usually, it's best to talk to the dentist about your concerns so that
he/she can perhaps address them or give you some reassurance.  Implants
are a good option to look into replacing natural teeth as long as you are
prepared to maintain them properly which involves proper brushing,
flossing, and dental visits.  They do cost more (around $1000 per implant
plus the cost of the crown) but can be very esthetic and conservative in
terms of preparation (single tooth replacements).

  Dentists generally like to save good teeth over placing a partial denture
because we find that nothing works quite as well as what naturally was
there to begin with.  During eating, cooking.net">food will get around the metal
clasps and plastic flanges of partial dentures.  There also may be
limitations over what foods can be eaten as well.  It really depends on
the design and what teeth left that one has to work with.  Sometimes the
clasping wires might also be visible when one smiles so that's another
disadvantage.  Partials do have their place in dentistry along with crowns
and bridges as a viable alternative.

   Depending on how much you wish to spend, what shape your remaining
teeth are in and what your expectations are, a partial may or may not be
for you.  Some people have problems with partials/complete dentures.  
Some don't.  Luckily, your parents don't.  But don't assume everyone is
the same.  I've had some patients love their dentures and thank me for
ridding them of their teeth because they were not interested in
maintaining them.  That's fine.  I've also had people complain about
their lower dentures not having any suction.  That's not so fine.  So you
see, it's not that easy to predict what your experience will be.

Hor Tak D. Zung
DDS, BSc