dental implants

Dental  Implants –  It  is a  very efficient method of replacing one or  several missing teeth  with  much  compliance implanted teeth  are  functionally and  aesthetically  similar  that  of natural  teeth  

Throughout the history of civilization, significant value has been seen in the presence of a complete set of teeth, both for functional and aesthetic reasons. This has driven people all over the world in various time eras to replace missing teeth, eventually leading to the important  invention and use of dental implants.

Ancient History

The first recorded case of a replacement tooth made of metal comes from the body of an Egyptian king who lived in approximately 1000 BC. His upper jawbone has a copper peg that has been hammered into it, although it is not certain if the peg was attached during his lifetime as a tooth replacement

Archaeological excavations in France uncovered a Celtic grave in France with a false tooth made of iron that is believed to have originated from approximately 300 BC. However, experts believe that it is more likely that this was hammered into the jaw post mortem for aesthetic reasons because the pain of its installation during life would have been excruciating

Various  materials have also been found by archaeologists in the jaws of ancient skulls, from rare gems such as jade to common materials such as sea shells.

It was not until centuries later that significant developments in the techniques used for dental implants were

In the eighteenth century, some researchers began to experiment with using gold and alloys to make dental implants. However, these did not prove to be very successful.

In 1886, a doctor mounted a porcelain crown on a platinum disc, which also did not yield positive results in the long term. The primary issue that dogged workers until this point was rejection of the foreign body dental implant. In order for the implant to be successful, the replacement tooth and the bone need to fuse together, through a process known as osseointean orthopedic surgeon stumbled across the particular properties needed for successful fusion. Upon finding that a titanium cylinder fused together with the femur bone of a rabbit during a study on bone healing and regeneration, he hypothesized that this fusion could be utilized in other fields

finding that a titanium cylinder fused together with the femur bone of a rabbit during a study on bone healing and regeneration, he hypothesized that this fusion could be utilized in other fields such as that of dental implants. The first titanium dental implant was placed in a human volunteer in 1965, by an orthopedic surgeon named Branemark.

The success of the first titanium dental implant quickly led to significant improvement in the techniques used for tooth replacement. This developed to using a titanium alloy screw, usually with a rough surface that is thought to help improve the process of osseointegration

Basically implants are the Titanium inserted into jaw bone and top of it a crown made with porcelain or other hardy material . implant dentures are deferent from conventional dentures which have to be removed and placed it again . It is screwed to the jaw bone and part of persons dentition aesthetically and functionally identical teeth very similar appearance as normal teeth

Swedish scientist biologist invented this important process

Professor Prasad Amaratunga

Senior Professor of Oral Pathology

Faculty of Dental Sciences

Shantha Heiyantuduwa