The advances of modern dental implants

Dental implants date back hundreds, if not thousands of years. The earliest attempt of the treatment on record was discovered in the Mayan civilization dating back to 600 A.D. Archaeologists have recovered ancient skulls in which teeth were replaced with materials ranging from carved stones to fragments of seashells.

Since 1952, titanium has been used for its special property called osseointegration, which is where the titanium fuses to the bone, and it is this special quality that has been the biological basis of the success of modern implants.

The treatment was first introduced for those who had lost all their teeth and who had great difficulty stabilising or tolerating dentures, largely because they had lost so much of the jawbone upon which dentures rest. However, dental implants can now be used to replace single or multiple teeth. In addition, the pioneering system used a standard size to fit a wide number of patients, but modern implants come in a range of shapes and sizes to suit different teeth.

Over the years, experts have further improved the art of dental implants. Contemporary dental implants include a high-grade titanium alloy screw, which improves osseointergration. These screws do not run the risk of bending or rusting and are fixed to the patient’s jaw, which adjusts and heals to where the tooth used to be.

Once the screw is fused into the jaw, a post with a crown is inserted on the top. This procedure has one of the highest success rates and effectively helps maintain oral hygiene.

Find out more about single and multiple dental implants at Sensu London.