What Dental Implants Are And How They Work

Dental implants are usually used to replace a missing tooth or missing teeth. They are made to resemble a tooth or a group of teeth and are usually made of titanium. Almost all dental implants are actually drilled up into the bone of the jaw and the dental implants are placed within the bone. They are made of certain material so that the bone of the jaw will accept them. The dental implants will actually fuse with the bone of the jaw. But because they do not have all of the things that normal teeth have, when a person uses them to chew, they will not feel the same as normal teeth. This insert is often used to support a lot of different things like crowns, bridges, or even dentures. It is also used to help move teeth around without the rest of the teeth also moving.

Interestingly enough, this kind of dentistry work actually dates back to the Mayan civilization. Archeologists actually found a jaw of Mayan origin when they were digging up Mayan burial sites. The jaw bone had shell pieces stuck into it to replace three missing teeth. At first, scientists thought that the shell pieces were placed there after the person was already dead. But after further study, it was determined that the shell pieces were placed there during the person's life. They concluded this because the bone around the shell had actually formed around the shell pieces.

It takes about two to six months for the insert to heal, though this is debated among dentists. Usually this kind of insertion is extremely successful. The success rate is around ninety-five percent. Of course this can vary on the skill of the dentist, how good the bone is that the insert has to go into, and how well the patient takes care of the insert. If the bone is very brittle, unstable, or doesn't take well to the insert, then it can cause it to fail. Also, if the patient doesn't take care of the insert, then it could degrade over time or even get infected, meaning that it could need to be removed or operated on again. And if the person putting in the insert is not doing a good job, then that's a problem from the beginning.

Usually the reason that an insert fails is if it does not integrate into the bone correctly or if the bone rejects it. The insert is considered to be a failure if it comes out of the bone, or if it moves too much after being put in. If it moves around, that means that over time it is much more likely to come completely loose and fall out. Also, if the insert becomes heavily infected, this can cause the bone to deteriorate around the insert. This can then cause the insert to become unstable and eventually fall out. This is actually more prevalent in people who are heavy smokers, people that have diabetes, people that do not take care of their mouth.