subject: What Are Dental Implants? [print this page] What Are Dental Implants? What Are Dental Implants?
It is a hard experience to lose a permanent, adult tooth. But the experience of going without it for the rest of your life is probably harder. Depending on which tooth is lost, life can become really hard indeed. It can become hard both socially and while eating. Thankfully, dental implants have been around for a while to ease that pain.
Dental implants are necessarily the base on which false teeth are planted. Since teeth are essentially part of our bone structure, the implants have to go into our bone to support the teeth for regular use. Given the amount of pressure a human jaw can exert, our teeth need to withstand a lot of pressure when biting, crushing and chewing. This is why a strong base is really important for the false teeth to work properly.
Dental implants have a come a long way since they were first invented. In fact there is evidence of even Mayans having used dental implants. Before the current line of dental implants were invented, there were implants that had to be screwed on to the jawbone to form the framework on which the teeth would stand. Thankfully though, it wasn't as gruesome as it sounds right now but it was still not a very convenient way of doing it.
Another kind of implant looked like a blade that would go inside the bone. This blade would be pushed into the bone and the tooth would sit on top of it, securely held in place. However, this too wasn't very friendly to the human body either. The jawbone is definitely no place for a blade to be stuck into for the rest of your life. No matter how small. That is where modern implants come in.
Modern implants are made of much freindlier material and they are made to mimic the actual root of a tooth. Natural teeth are anchored into place by roots made of nerve tissue and other tissue that go into the jawbone and bind the whole thing together. These new implants work exactly the same way by efficiently replicating the natural root for the false tooth that is going to be set.
Implants are in fact multi-functional. They are used to hold things other than false teeth. Artificial oral structures like dentures, implant-supported bridges and also crowns are supported by these implants.
Modern implants are very carefully and precisely fitted. So the preparation for it is also pretty complicated. The area that is to receive the implant is scanned through a radiograph and then carefully studied. A CT scan is also most often done in order to get a precise picture. When fitting gets complicated, computer design software is called in to do some 3D modeling for a snug fit.
Once the implants are fitted on, the jaw is given time to heal. The actual time has not been settled upon yet so it varies greatly between practitioners. Once it is deemed healed, it is fitted with whatever it was meant for.
