I'm a dentist, so I'll answer that one. Although a metal partial takes some getting used to, it's about the best option as far as being relatively cheap or if your other teeth aren't very strong. A less bulky option is a fixed bridge, but if you are missing teeth on opposite sides of your mouth you would need 2 bridges, and as they each cost about double the cost of your partials you would be looking at a lot more money. They also require strong teeth on either side of the space to attach to, and these teeth have to be ground down a little for the bridge to attach to. It would be great if you could have removable partials that only were on the one side, and I have seen them (they look like a crab, a tooth with claws on either side) but there's a higher than desirable risk of aspiration or swallowing it. NOT GOOD!
The other option is implants, which cost more yet and involve surgery.
I hope the metal sounds a little better now, Metalmouth!
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