Where have dental implants come from?
Centuries ago, dental technology and dental devices did not exist. Lost teeth meant that food could not be properly chewed, speech was affected and gum tenderness and disease damaged overall health and well-being. Restorative methods for tooth loss were present in these ages gone by, but such attempts did not provide the long lasting or aesthetically pleasing results of today’s dental implants.
Primitive dental implants
Primitive dental implant discoveries date back to before Christ. Egyptians used whatever materials were available in their locality to create a primitive type of tooth implant. Copper studs were used about 3,000 years ago and the inhabitants of Northern Italy used animal teeth as replacement teeth, whereas the Mayans used shells. Between 1500 and 1700, tradesmen started an early dentistry industry. Ivory turners used ivory to create artificial teeth and goldsmiths moulded metals and gold into teeth and teeth studs.
Later in the 1800s and 1900s, dental researchers started experimenting with ceramics and porcelain, and used rabbits in the 1950s, to determine bone regeneration techniques. In the 1960s and 1970s, an orthopaedic surgeon named Per Brånemark built on this research, by studying the fusion of titanium and bone in a process called ‘osseointegration’. The Brånemark System for implants was used for treatment in 1965. Brånemark’s publications and the work of other dental scientists, such as Dr Leonard Linkow, became wider read with global communication and technological developments. Dr Linkow pioneered the use of titanium dental implants for patients by 1992 creating the Dental Implantology industry.
Today’s dental implant treatments: same day implants
Today, dental implant treatments are available through health systems like the NHS and also private dental and cosmetic practice. Dental implant treatments, such as the same day implants system are now available world-wide and patients can travel to receive the care that they need. Where numerous dental implants may have taken weeks to implant, people can now have four dental implants implanted at a 45 degree angle, to replace a full arch of teeth in just one day. Improvements in the use of materials, developments in CAD/CAM technologies, have added to advanced procedures that create dental implants for long lasting and natural looking tooth restorations.
Dental implants enable normal eating and talking, allowing people to not only experience better dental and physical health, but also a higher sense of self-esteem and greater confidence in social, leisure and work activities.
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