The original Branemark® implant
The above image shows a typical cylindrical implant as it is used today. You can appreciate the rough surface as compared to the original Branemark® implant
This image shows several modern implant, each with a different purpose. Some are very short, others have avery aggressive thread pitch and yet others have a smooth collar for better gum tissue adaptation
The other parameters which changed during the later years were the diameter, the length and the surface geometry and surface composition of dental implants. Implants were eventually manufactured in different diameters, in order to adapt to the different tooth sizes we have in our mouths. In the beginning of the 1990s research seemed to indicate that long implants have the same survival rate as shorter implants, given the same location in the mouth and given a better design of the implant. This paved the way for implants to be manufactured at lengths less than 10mm. Lastly and most importantly, the surface geometry and composition was a very important marketing parameter for implant manufacturers. A great deal of research was poured into this concept and the common consensus was that a rough surface or even a coated surface increased the surface area of the implant and thus its stability. Today almost all implants have a modified or rough surface.
This implant maintained itself for over two decades, until other companies started manufacturing dental implants with different designs and metal composition. The original Branemark® implant was made out of commercially pure titanium, because the original studies on osseointegration showed that bone will adapt of commercially pure titanium. Subsequent research has later shown that allow of titanium show the same kind of integration level as commercially pure titanium. Commercially pure titanium was more prone to fracture do to its low tensile strength. The advantage of the alloy (and this was usually TiAl6V4 alloy) was that it's properties were superior with respect to tensile strength and resistance to fatigue and crack propagation. Since this discovery most implant companies started shifting their implant manufacturing towards titanium alloy instead of commercially pure titanium.
Dental implants will continue to evolve. Besides new alloys and different gum tissue interfaces, the current research trend leans toward the incorporation of growth factors or bone growth enhancing substances into the surface coating. This could potentially speed up the osseointegration process, and may even make "immediate loading" of dental implants a routine treatment modality.
Cylindrical (Rootform) Implants
When Dr. Per-Ingvar Branemark introduced his concept of a dental implant over 40 years ago, it had the resemblance of a straight cylindrical screw and was made out of commercially pure Titanium. It had a diameter of 3.75 mm and was available in lengths of 10mm, 13mm, 15mm and 18mm.
