Modern-Day Dental Implants: Convenient, Comfortable, and Effective

In the past decades, merely the idea of having dental implants placed on their mouth was enough to make one shiver in fright. Back then, having implants involved the implantation of various types of devices in the patient’s jaws, particularly between their periosteum and their alveolar or basal bone. Whether these contraptions yielded a huge success rate or not remains to be a mystery, yet these inspired researchers to continually develop and further improve implants.

Development of Dental Implants

Even during the prehistoric times, man strived to look for ways to replace lost teeth, be it due to trauma or severe periodontal disease. During those times, replacement teeth were made of raw materials like shells, small stones, or carved wood. As civilizations emerged and technology rose, dentures became a more sophisticated invention. However, although the introduction of dentures made it possible for most people to restore their smiles, these early versions often found unstable.

There was also a time in its history when dental implants had an unfortunate reputation of being an ineffective solution for tooth loss, most likely borne out of high percentages of complications and catastrophic failures. Furthermore, the surgical and prosthetic techniques used for the placement of dental implants were only mastered by the most skilled surgeons and clinicians.

Fortunately, with recent and continuous improvements on implants, all these issues have become nothing else but a thing of the past. Today, dental implants are viable solutions for tooth loss, easily available from dentists everywhere.

A Breakthrough Innovation

The modern dental implants everyone is now seeing was almost an accidental invention by researchers in Goteborg, Sweden. While previous types of dental implants were made of metal, theirs were made of titanium. Titanium, according to these researchers, has the property of being biocompatible, making it possible for the material to be implanted in the bone without fear of generating a chronic inflammatory or allergic response.

The design for their first fixtures, however, was different from what everyone is accustomed to today. Back then, implants resembled the shape of a saddle, which then overlapped the alveolar ridge and was secured by a transalveolar screw.

Today, dental implants have screws for fixtures, and are placed into the jaw bone to replace the missing tooth. Traditionally, the artificial roots for these implants are made of either titanium or alloy, both of which are strong and has a low risk of rusting or bending.

Dentists like those from Advanced Dental Care of Springfield in Springfield, IL are more than capable of safely placing dental implants on your teeth. There should be no reason now for you to not have a beautiful smile with your complete set of pearly whites.

Sources:

Say goodbye to yesterday’s iffy dental implants, Chicago Tribune

History And Development Of Dental Implants, LovePerio