Over the past twenty years, a lot of modifications and improvements has happened to dental implants. However the conecept of dental implants had been around for more than twenty years.
Researchers have dug up evidence that ancient civilazations have used precious stones and shells to replace missing teeth. Archeologists have found jawbones from ancient Egypt where precious stones stood in place of what could have been a missing tooth. From Mayan ruins, jawbones with seashells were also found.
From these trails, we can surmise that tooth loss had been an ancient problem. And that people had been looking for a permanent fix. People who suffered or who are still suffering from a missing tooth can understand why people had been bent on solving this problem. For the past fifteen years, three significant research breakthroughs had been discovered and developed regarding dental implants.
Dental implants can replace up to thirty-two tooth roots. It can also hold a few metal posts that serve as anchors for dental bridges or overdentures. Scientists and researchers have discovered that there are metals like titanium that are biologically compatible but strong. They fuse well with the human bone, making it good materials for dental implants. In a concept called osseointegration, the jawbone fuses well with the metal. These metals also have the capacity to prevent harmful bacteria from entering the bone tissue.
This new and wonderful breakthrough can be credited to computers or Computerized Tomography (CT) in particular. They are capable of creating a model of the jawbone’s surface. Through this, the dental implant procedure can be one step less. There is no longer a need to make impressions of the jawbone.
While there are still limitations and weaknesses regarding dental implants, without a doubt it has come a long way since its conception and it is still in the process of further development.