Dental implants now represent the gold standard of tooth replacement, as they fuse with your jaw and look highly natural. Still, these substitute teeth didn’t start out with such qualities. The truth is that dental implants evolved over time – from humble origins in the distant past – to reach their present form. Their many changes helped them become the replacement teeth they are today! If you want to learn more, here’s a look at how implants started, how they changed, and what they’re like now.
How Dental Implants Started
Dental implants have been around for a long time. In fact, today’s scholars find that the restorations were created thousands of years ago.
It seems that ancient China was among the first to make dental implants. As far back as 2,000 BCE, its citizens carved bamboo pegs and used them to replace missing teeth. People would fix these pegs onto the bones in their mouths to keep them stable.
Of course, other ancient groups thought up dental implants as well. The Egyptians of 1000 BCE (like the Chinese) would also carve materials and peg them onto the jawbone. Some archaeologists have even found skulls with artificial teeth made from elephant ivory or jade.
Dental Implants & Their Changes
Dental implants underwent major changes in the 19th and 20th centuries. Thanks to these advances, implant treatment slowly grew to become more effective.
By the 1800s, dentists knew that the body often rejected dental implants due to their materials. They tried to fix this issue by using implants made of varying substances, but these efforts were a massive failure. However, they did feed into useful research years later.
The 1900s saw the first real successes in dental implant evolution. In the 1930s, Drs. Alvin and Moses Strock were the first to place an implant into the jawbone successfully. This result was due to the doctors making implants out of Vitallium – a chromium-cobalt alloy. Later still, Swedish surgeon Ingvar Brånemark discovered titanium could fuse with a bone to make an ideal dental implant.
What Dental Implants Are Like Today
After Brånemark’s discovery, titanium became the most used material for dental implants. That setup holds even now, several decades later.
Of course, today’s dentists have still progressed with modern dental implants. Many practices now rely on cone beam CT scans to make implant placement more precise. Meanwhile, others have methods that allow treatment to stop bacterial films. Such changes mean dentists can place dental implants more effectively and promote bone growth.
With present-day dental implants, you can expect benefits like:
- A roughened design that allows more fusible area for the jawbone
- Better materials that provide patients with a faster healing time
- Non-allergic materials that are accepted by your body
Dental implants evolved over time to help your smile all the more. So, note them and talk to your dental provider about treatment.
About the Practice
Bell Dental is based in Louisville, KY. Led by Drs. Kenneth Bell and Steven Kaebnick, our practice prides itself on offering quality dental care to all its patients. That means we perform preventive, cosmetic, and restorative services, as well as emergency oral treatments. Of course, we also include dental implants among our many tooth replacement services. For more details or to book a visit, you can reach us on our website or by phone at (502)-749-2355.