When we discuss replacing a lost tooth with a patient, we usually discuss dentures, a bridge and dental implants. It is usually the last of these that patients are less familiar with even if they have heard of them. While we discuss the practical aspects, patients are often surprised to find out how popular they are, with people increasingly making them their first choice as a teeth replacement treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tied in with this is the surprise that they are not as new as they thought. In fact, dental implants have been around for quite a while as we will see, although their general popularity is more recent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Let us delve into the history of dental implants then, to get today\u2019s blog started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although the modern version that patients are more familiar with are much more recent, archaeological digs have found evidence that rudimentary dental implants were used as far back as the ancient Egyptians. Finds from digs suggest that gold wire may have been used to hold loose teeth in place, but more relevantly, pieces of shell or stone were found to have\u00a0 been placed into the socket where a tooth was missing. It is generally believed though that these would have been placed after death as the ancient Egyptians believed that it was necessary to do this to help the dead in their next life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
From a functionality point of view, these very early teeth implants<\/a> were practically useless for all intent and purposes, but, although they were probably used more for aesthetic purposes, it does show that even as far back as this, people understood the importance of keeping their teeth if they could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we think of medical breakthroughs, we tend to think of years of painstaking research and experiments, along with a very large amount of funding. This is not the case with the discovery of dental implants although, naturally, more research has been done since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The reality is that dental implants, or rather, the process that makes them so successful, was discovered quite by accident.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the 1950s, a Swedish orthopaedic surgeon Professor Per-Ingvar Br\u00e5nemark was carrying out an experiment which involved the placing of titanium rods into the bones of a rabbit. When he came to remove the rods on completion of the experiment, as they were expensive, he found he couldn\u2019t remove them. On closer inspection, he found that the bone had actually fused itself to the titanium rod. Some people may have thrown the rabbit away, titanium rods as well. Professor Br\u00e5nemark was fascinated by this discovery though and investigated further and found that he could repeat the results.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of further experiments, he concluded that this would enable an artificial tooth, made from titanium, to be placed into the jaw bone, where it would fuse with the bone and be a really secure tooth replacement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1965, he placed the first dental implant into a human patient.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As it turned out, the answer is \u2018very little\u2019 and in fact, the patient eventually died in 2006, more than forty years after having the implant placed. Amazingly enough, they were still fully functional.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When we tell you then, that dental implants should last you for at least 20 years if you look after them well, this proves that they can, in actuality, last an awful lot longer. This will depend on many different factors however.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The process that was discovered was named \u2018osseointegration\u2019. Osseo from the Greek \u2018osteon\u2019 meaning bone and integration from the Latin \u2018integrare\u2019, meaning the integration of bone with an artificial material. It is this process which leads to dental implants being very strong and stable. It is also why care needs to be taken once an implant has been placed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You will be given some advice by the implant dentist at Clarence Dental once you have had your treatment. This will include things like eating soft food for a while while the implant fuses with the bone. Generally speaking, the process should last for approximately three months though you will be able to gradually normalise your diet over time and as advised by our Staines upon Thames dentists<\/a>. Following this advice will provide you with a strong and healthy tooth root that we attach a crown to for a natural appearance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It is worth noting that this process only works with titanium and some other biocompatible materials. We always use high quality dental implants but we are aware that some patients opt for overseas treatment based largely on cost. Using cheaper implants is just one of the ways that the cost is reduced for some of these practices and you may find that your treatment was cheaper than in the UK, but the implant ultimately fails because it was not made from a biocompatible material. Our advice is simple; don\u2019t risk it. If cost is an issue, please talk to us about our payment plans that can help you to spread the treatment cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We hope that you enjoyed today\u2019s history lesson, and, if you have been considering dental implants as an option to replace a missing tooth, or teeth, why not come and talk to us about it so that we can answer any queries that you might have. To Book your initial consultation with the Clarence Dental Practice, please call us on 01784 463 695<\/strong>. We are here to help!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" You may know just how useful dental implants are for replacing lost teeth but do you know how they were invented and how they've developed? Take a look in our new blog.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":75,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[20],"class_list":["post-400","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-dental-implants"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tImplants by accident<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What could go wrong?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Osseointegration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n