NATURAL DENTAL MATERIALS. A HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE.

Since ancient times, the missing teeth were manufactured from several materials, in order to satisfy aesthetic or restorative requirements. In the Antiquity and Middle Age, the first dental prosthetic techniques were using stones, seashells, wood, bone, natural animal or human teeth, metal teeth (bronze, iron), attached with silk threads or gold and silver wires. The Modern Age made the most significant breakthrough, by introducing new materials and denture fabrication techniques and inaugurating a new era of aesthetic dentistry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]