Dental Implants are among the most popular and vital procedures in modern dentistry, but they aren’t new. Fossilised evidence has shown examples of this procedure, or attempts at this procedure, being used to replace missing teeth since at least 5000BC.
Examples have included materials such as stone, shells, animal teeth, or even primitive bitumen, but it wasn’t until the discovery of a unique substance that we began to perfect their application. Titanium screws are the key to a successful dental implant, because unlike almost any other substance, they are biocompatible with human bone. At No Gaps Dental in Sydney, and at dental clinics around the world, it has become a standard in prosthetics.
Titanium is tough, at least as tough as stainless steel, but steel screws are rejected by the bone in to which they are inserted. This means the bone erodes, which not only reduces the strength of the bond, it also reduces the bone mass – something that, over time, can impact upon your facial characteristics.
Titanium, however, actually encourages bone growth. When inserted in to the jaw bone, the bone, once it grows accustomed to the screw, actively grows around it, rather than rejecting it. This shores up the state of your jaw bone, and it also encourages a strong base for your replacement tooth.
Titanium has altered the way that we replace lost teeth, and we owe such an innovation to this unique substance.