Dental implants are a revolutionary solution for people with missing teeth, offering a permanent and natural-looking replacement. For many years, nearly all dental implants were manufactured using titanium and titanium alloys, but with advances in technology and research, dental implants are now made from several materials, each with unique properties and advantages. These materials must be biocompatible, meaning they interact well with the human body and are resistant to both fracture and corrosion. Titanium dental implants are generally considered the gold standard.
They are strong, durable and resistant to wear and corrosion. This material creates permanent fixation with the bone, giving the restoration a high degree of stability. Titanium is also an affordable option, which is important when placing dental implants already involves a lot of costs. Zirconia dental implants are a newer option that is commonly used for patients who have a metal allergy.
Technically, zirconia is a metal, but it looks like ceramic because it's white. Like titanium, zirconia is biocompatible and resistant to corrosion, and zirconia also has the advantage of being resistant to the accumulation of bacteria. Polymethacrylate and other polymers are sometimes used for dental implants, but they are not as durable as titanium and zirconia. Dental implants can also be made from stainless steel, gold and cobalt-chrome.
Each of them is durable and corrosion resistant, but they don't have the same success rates as titanium and zirconia dental implants. As with implant posts, abutments are usually made of titanium and zirconium. A thermoplastic polymer called polyether ether ketone (PEEK) is a recent innovation that has shown promise for use in a wide variety of industries, including dentistry. Although PEEK is less popular than titanium and zirconium, more and more dentists are using it because of its excellent strength and durability, its natural color and its biocompatibility with hard and soft tissues. The first modern dental implants were made of titanium, a strong, lightweight material that fuses well with human bone. This process is known as “biocompatibility”.
Dental implants made of titanium have a 95 percent success rate according to the Oral Health Foundation, and can last a lifetime with a proper oral care routine. Titanium or zirconium are the most used materials in the post of dental implants. The implant post is screwed into the jaw and serves as the base for the new tooth. The material must have the right toughness and strength and be biocompatible, meaning that it looks like the human body and can fuse with the jaw naturally. While the use and construction of implants has come a long way, the future is likely to be full of alternative solutions to improve dental implants. Although titanium and zirconia are still two of the most common implant materials, other materials are sometimes used to create implants. Gum disease is quite common in people with implants who don't care for them as needed, leading to implant failure.
With the growing popularity of implants to replace damaged or missing teeth, dental professionals continue to research and improve dental implant materials and techniques. Regardless of the material used in your dental implants, finding an implant dentist with the right training and experience is a key factor in the success of dental implants. With this influx of new patients, dental implantology will also need to consider other factors affecting implant integration such as allergies and medical conditions. Hogan stays up to date on the latest research and advances in dental implants and has decades of experience in restorative dentistry with dental implants. Dental implants are a wonder of modern medicine offering patients a potentially lifelong solution to the problem of missing teeth that works as well as it looks. The type of implant used and the condition of the jaw determine how dental implant surgery is performed.
