Dental implants may seem a daunting procedure if you have missing teeth, but the good news is that they have come a long way in the past few decades. As a tried and tested procedure, around 95% of modern dental implants will last for many years if given the right care. But what exactly are dental implants and why are they used to replace missing teeth?
Dental implants consist of a titanium metal rod which is inserted into the jawbone to support one or more false teeth. Together, the false tooth and its supporting rod are known as an ‘implant’. Modern implants use the latest in dental technology to ensure that the implants are safe, comfortable and durable. However, dental implants aren’t a recent invention. In fact they go back a long way…
The history of dental implants
Dental implants are believed to originate from the Ancient Egyptians and Mayans, who would shape and trim seashells to replace missing teeth. Evidence of this has been found in a Mayan skull, dating back to 600AD, which is thought to have the oldest surviving dental implant. The shells were wedged into slots in the jaw and then fused together with the bone. These implants were regarded as successful because a person would usually die before the shell even fell out!
In the 18th century, the concept of dental implants shifted to using other people’s teeth to replace a missing tooth, but this method was generally unsuccessful as the patient’s immune system often had adverse reactions to the implanted tooth. It wasn’t until later on that metals like gold, platinum and other metal alloys were used as solutions to missing teeth.
Modern dental implants
The modern implants we use today only started to emerge in the 1950s and 60s and originally, many dentists used implants made of steel that had a blade design. Then, an important breakthrough in dental implantology was made. In 1952, a Swedish orthopaedic surgeon known as Per-Ingvar Brånemark was studying the properties of bone healing and regeneration when he discovered that titanium can successfully mesh into human bone tissue due to a process known as osseointegration. This means that bone does not reject the metal but actually begins to grow around it over time.
The first titanium dental implant was successfully fitted into a patient’s jaw bone in 1965. Since then, studies have been conducted into titanium implants to make them as comfortable and durable as possible for patients. The first commercially available dental implants were called Biotes, but were renamed as the Brånemark implant, one of the main systems of implants still in use today.
Dental implants have come a long way from their early origins. From shells to titanium rods, today’s implants are safer and stronger than ever, so we can give you the smile that you’re missing out on!
Yours in oral health,
