Ask a Periodontist: What Are Dental Implants?
http://www.mymeditationcoach.com/articles/6584/1/Ask-a-Periodontist-What-Are-Dental-Implants/Page1.html
Karl A. Smith, DDS, MS
Dr. Karl Smith has been in dental practice for over twenty-seven years. His specialties are periodontics, dental anesthesia and implants. People come from near and far to experience the comfort and professionalism of his office and patient-oriented staff. <a href="http://www.drkarlsmith.com" title="http://www.drkarlsmith.com" target="_blank">http://www.drkarlsmith.com</a> By Karl A. Smith, DDS, MS
Published on 12/7/2009
A dental implant is a tool used by dentists when they need to replicate or replace part of the broken tooth, and have to do so by some manmade or synthetic means These days most dental implants are used to give a tooth a new root after the natural tooth root has been broken, diseased, or otherwise damaged co much that it no longer works as a base and anchor for the tooth
A dental implant is a tool used by dentists when they need to replicate or replace part of the broken tooth, and have to do so by some manmade or synthetic means. These days most dental implants are used to give a tooth a new root after the natural tooth root has been broken, diseased, or otherwise damaged co much that it no longer works as a base and anchor for the tooth. As you may know, each tooth has a corresponding root that stretches down into the gums and finally roots or anchors the tooth into the jawbone. It is this root that supports the tooth, just like a foundation supports the house that is built on top of it. So a dental implant is a type of replacement root used by dental surgeons in cases of severe root degradation.
If you saw one out of context you probably would have no idea that it had anything to do with teeth or dentistry, though, because most of these dental implants just look like very polished little screws or bolts. They are not ordinary bolts though, because first of all they are made from titanium – one of the hardest metals on earth. Because they are made from titanium they won’t corrode or rust, and that is important because the mouth is, after all, a watery environment where many chemicals – including the ones in our saliva that help us start to break down and digest food – are found.
The tiny threaded piece of titanium is imbedded down into the jaw, during a surgery procedure that usually requires that the dentist drill a hole into the jawbone so that the dental implant’s base can be inserted into that opening. Then it is surgically cemented into place, while the top portion of it sticks up (in the case of a tooth being repaired on the bottom row) or protrudes down (if the root being fixed happens to be one of the ones on the upper row of teeth) so that a tooth crown can be mounted over the top of it. The dental implant goes inside the tooth – which is typically a synthetic tooth made by the dentist from polymer, porcelain, or other material – and gives it a place to sit securely inside the mouth. Once the crown or top part of the tooth – the visible section that we see when someone smiles – is properly attached and situated the tooth works just like a brand new one, thanks to the metal root.
If the concept sounds strange and unusual to you, which is how it strikes most people at first, one way to help to conceptualize is to think about other kinds of medical implants used by doctors and surgeons in the health care world. Sometimes people break bones, for example, and the bone is shattered so badly that it cannot be useful any more. So a metal piece of rod – shaped kind of like a bone – might be substituted for the real bone to serve as a replacement. The same kind of logic applies to the dental implant, which is really nothing more than a small and cleverly designed and engineered little metal rod put into the mouth to replace the boney tooth root.
If you saw one out of context you probably would have no idea that it had anything to do with teeth or dentistry, though, because most of these dental implants just look like very polished little screws or bolts. They are not ordinary bolts though, because first of all they are made from titanium – one of the hardest metals on earth. Because they are made from titanium they won’t corrode or rust, and that is important because the mouth is, after all, a watery environment where many chemicals – including the ones in our saliva that help us start to break down and digest food – are found.
The tiny threaded piece of titanium is imbedded down into the jaw, during a surgery procedure that usually requires that the dentist drill a hole into the jawbone so that the dental implant’s base can be inserted into that opening. Then it is surgically cemented into place, while the top portion of it sticks up (in the case of a tooth being repaired on the bottom row) or protrudes down (if the root being fixed happens to be one of the ones on the upper row of teeth) so that a tooth crown can be mounted over the top of it. The dental implant goes inside the tooth – which is typically a synthetic tooth made by the dentist from polymer, porcelain, or other material – and gives it a place to sit securely inside the mouth. Once the crown or top part of the tooth – the visible section that we see when someone smiles – is properly attached and situated the tooth works just like a brand new one, thanks to the metal root.
If the concept sounds strange and unusual to you, which is how it strikes most people at first, one way to help to conceptualize is to think about other kinds of medical implants used by doctors and surgeons in the health care world. Sometimes people break bones, for example, and the bone is shattered so badly that it cannot be useful any more. So a metal piece of rod – shaped kind of like a bone – might be substituted for the real bone to serve as a replacement. The same kind of logic applies to the dental implant, which is really nothing more than a small and cleverly designed and engineered little metal rod put into the mouth to replace the boney tooth root.