Saturday 13 October 2012

Silver Spring Dentists: The History of Dental Implants, PART 2

Welcome back to our two-part article series on the history of dental implants. In our previous post, Silver Spring dentists discussed how the concepts of replacing missing teeth with a foreign material, such as bone, ivory, seashell or gold, is one that dates back to some of our earliest civilizations. One of the primary differences between these rudimentary dental implants and the modern technology that is globally recognized to be the very best for the replacement of single and multiple missing teeth is that the former was mostly cosmetic in purpose.

A problem that frustrated these ancient civilizations and continued to baffle medical doctors and dentists until 1950 was that none of the materials or metals used or experimented with would provide a fixed and non-removable replacement tooth. With each new material experimented with, the jaw would simply reject the foreign artificial tooth, explain Silver Spring dentists. So, prior to the conception of modern dental implants, you could have a false tooth made for you, but like dentures, it would not be fixed or permanent.

That is, until a very important discovery in 1951…

Professor Per-Ingvar BrÃ¥nemark and the Discovery of ‘Osseointegration’













Experiment after experiment was carried out by the dentists of the time in the hope that they would discover a material or metal that was capable of fusing with the underlying bone in the human jaw. If they could just discover what this mystery material was, Silver Spring dentists could go on to fashion replacement teeth that would actually remain permanently rooted in the jaw, just like natural teeth. After decades of toil, Silver Spring dentists weren’t any closer to finding a non-removable solution to missing teeth…

It was in 1951 that an accidental discovery led to the conception of dental implantology, say Silver Spring dentists. Swedish orthopedic surgeon Per-Ingvar Brånemark was experimenting with titanium metal and rabbit bone in a totally unrelated study. After a few months, he noticed quite by accident that the bone tissue had biologically fused with the titanium metal and that the resultant bond was very strong! This not only made dental implants a possibility, explain Silver Spring dentists, but it also opened up the field of orthopedic surgery dedicated to repairing and replacing bones and joints in the body.

Silver Spring Dentists: Modern Dental Implant Science

Silver Spring Dentists










Subsequent to this breakthrough, albeit accidental discovery, Silver Spring dentists went on to refine the hardware, technology and surgical methods required for replacing missing teeth using titanium-supported ceramic tooth crowns and bridges. Nowadays, there is no limit to the number of teeth Silver Spring dentists can replace using dental implants. Removable dentures, or false teeth, used to be the technology offered to edentulous (toothless) and near-edentulous patients. With the sophistication of dental implant protocols (the surgical methods governing their placement), Silver Spring dentists are able to provide these people with a full set of fixed and non-removable teeth that are - in functionality, aesthetics and comfort – virtually indistinguishable from natural teeth.

A Final Note from Silver Spring Dentists

Dental implants have come a long way, as have we as a civilization, say Silver Spring dentists. Whether you have lost one of your teeth to accidental trauma or all of them to periodontal (gum) disease, there are comprehensive and long term solutions available.

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