subject: Considerations Doctors Make Before Prescribing Dental Implants [print this page] Dental implants are prosthetic aids that serve as 'roots' to the 'artificial teeth' used in restorative dentistry. The need for these artificial teeth comes up when a person loses their natural teeth in one way or another. A bad accident, when traveling, in sport or in a 'fight' can result in such a loss of natural teeth. Very bad tooth infections, especially if left unattended for too long, can also lead to loss of natural teeth; because in many cases, the only way to treat such advanced tooth infections is through extraction.
Once a person has lost their natural teeth, the need for artificial replacement arises - especially when you take into consideration the fact that living with some teeth missing tends to make one lose some of their cosmetic appeal; not to mention the difficulty in chewing food it causes. In this situation, crafting the replacement tooth is easy enough. All it takes is to take measurements of the gap left by the lost tooth - and then, using a material that resembles bone tissue, create an 'artificial tooth.' This artificial tooth can then be fitted onto the mouth of the person who lost their natural tooth - and from a cosmetic point of view, all would look well.
Yet the problem that arises is that the body is not likely to integrate with such a replacement tooth easily. A natural tooth is a living organ, one that enjoys 'sensation' like every other part of the body (which is why you experience toothaches), and one that even gets nutrition - through the blood - like all parts of the body. So what we are likely to have is a situation where the replacement tooth, due to its lack of integration with the body, is likely to 'lack life:' getting no sensation or nutrition whatsoever. This type of tooth does the cosmetic bit (though you won't feel it if falls off, due to lack of sensation). But it is not a functional tooth. It can't chew even the softest stuff, for it doesn't respond to the 'command' to chew by the central nervous system.
It is in order to give 'life' to such a replacement tooth, then, that dental implants are used. These are made from a material that has been observed to eventually get integrated with the body (typically titanium and its alloys). The idea is to fit the implants into the gap in the jawbone where the artificial tooth is to come in, and then give it time to heal, by which time is should also have become integrated with the rest of the body's systems: so that it gets things like nutrition from the circulation system, and sensation from the central nervous system. It is at this point then, that the replacement tooth can be introduced - and hooked as it will be to the dental implant which is turn connected to the rest of the body systems, we are likely to have a fully functional system.
Yet the decision to introduce the dental implants is not automatic. Whether or not dental implants can be introduced in a person's mouth will depend on among other things, whether there is enough bone tissue in the jaw, to form a proper base for the implant. If there is, there will also be question as to whether it (the bone tissue) is strong enough to hold the implant. Furthermore, the supporting (non bone) tissue near the part where the dental implant is to be placed has to in a reasonable health condition too.
