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The wistful and unsettling image of a set of dentures in a glass of cloudy water is becoming a fading memory for many Americans. Industry observers and data say that bridges and dentures-at best a problematic substitute for real teeth-are being cast off in favor of dental implants. The prosthetic substitutes introduced to North American dentistry two decades ago look like and often function nearly as well as genuine incisors, molars, or bicuspids.