Partial dentures are the cheapest form of replacing missing teeth but they are not necessarily the best option. Here are a few downfalls that occur in nearly every situation when it comes to partial dentures:
Adjustments & Re-fitting & Replacement
Throughout your lifetime, dentures will need to be replaced and adjusted, which can become time consuming and expensive. It is a simple fact that dentures will start to become loose and can even break during normal activities such as talking, eating, etc. If a denture arch breaks, it may be possible to repair; however, in some cases, the denture will need to be replaced entirely.
Bone Resorption (degeneration)
If you do not replace tooth roots, the bone where the tooth roots used to be will start to degenerate and shrink. This not only means you'll need to get your partial or denture re-adjusted/relined, but the loss of jaw bone volume also means placement of dental implants in the future may not be an option to replace the missing teeth because implants require a certain amount of bone to be placed.
Impaired Speech
Partial dentures and full dentures take up more space in the mouth than your normal teeth. Because of this, there is an adjustment period of time where you may notice difficulty in pronouncing certain words or talking in general. As dentures get re-adjusted and re-fitted, you may notice a difference in pronunciation and will have to make minor speech adjustments again.