Dental Implants were developed in 1952, in a laboratory in the university town of Lund' Sweden by Professor Per-Ingvar Brånemark, who had a “lucky” accident during bone grafting research. Much to his dismay, Dr. Brånemark discovered that it was impossible to recover any of the bone-anchored titanium microscopes he was using.
The titanium plate had apparently bonded irreversibly to living bone tissue, an observation which contradicted all scientific theory at the time.
Dr. Brånemark went on to demonstrate that under carefully controlled conditions, titanium could be structurally integrated into living bone with a very high degree of predictability, and without long-term soft tissue inflammation or rejection. Brånemark coined the name “osseointegration,” meaning the attachment of healthy bone to a titanium implant.
Thus dental implants were born and the first application of dental osseointegration was the implantation of new titanium roots in an edentulous (toothless) patient in 1965. Dental implants have shown a 90 percent success rate and long-term studies continue to show improving success.
Reasons you may want to consider dental implants:
- To replace one or more teeth
- To provide support for a partial denture
- To increase the support and stability of full upper or lower denture
- To enhance chewing comfort
- To increase confidence while smiling, talking and eating
- To improve your overall psychological health
- To improve esthetic appearance and regain over all confidence
Summary
In 1952, the first dental implants were developed and since that time technology has taken leaps and bounds to give us the most modern solution for missing teeth. Dental implants restore optimum oral health, as well as confidence and hope to those who have suffered tooth loss.
