Implant Dentistry
Implant Dentistry is an exciting field. More research and development is dedicated to implant dentistry than to any other discipline in Dentistry. What is Implant Detnistry, what is its history, and how can you benefit from it? These are all questions that will be answered below.
History
It all started with a rabbit! In 1952, Prof. Per-Ingvar Branemark of Sweden conducted an experiment where he utilized a titanium implant chamber to study blood flow in rabbit bone. At the conclusion of the experiment, when it became time to remove the titanium chambers from the bone, he discovered that the bone had integrated so completely with the implant that the chamber could not be removed. Branemark called the discovery "osseointegration," and saw the possibilities for human use. The procedure was first implemented in dentistry for fixation of teeth and now also is used for cranial and maxillofacial reconstruction as well.
Dental Implants
This discovery led to the design of today’s cylindrical titanium implants. There are a variety of dental implants which were (and sometimes still are used) that are not cylindrical. Other implant types include Blade Implants, Subperiosteal Implants and Blade Implants. Each of these implants had their place and time in history, but can still find their applications today in certain circumstances.
The most frequently used implant today, however is the “rootform” or “cylindrical implant, because it closely mimicks the shape of a single tooth root. The modern implant actually consists of three parts:
- The implant fixture
- The abutment
- The crown
Typically, these three parts come together in two different stages: The surgical stage and the prosthetic stage, which is usually scheduled several months later, in order to give the implant time to integrate into the bone. A growing body of evidence however supports the concept of “immediate” loading of freshly placed dental implants, meaning a restoration (either a temporary or a definite restoration) can be connected to the implant immediately after it is placed into the bone.
Whether this is a feasible option, will largely depend on your bone quality and the initial stability of the dental implant.
Applications
Dental Implants can be used for a variety of applications:
- Single tooth replacements
- Multiple tooth replacements
- Fixed full-arch reconstructions (Denture Replacements)
- Removable full-arch reconstruction
- Denture Stabilization
- Orthodontics
Bone Grafting
More often than not, we have to do some type of bone grafting at the time of or prior to the placement of dental implants. This is usually a topic that confuses many. So I would like to shed some light for you on this topic.
There are no real classifications on the different type of bone graft procedures for dental implants out there, so I will create one based on the timing of the grafting procedure:
- Pre-Implant Grafting (all grafting procedures which need to be done prior to implant placements)
- Sinus Augmentation
- Onlay Grafting
- Socket Preservations
- Distraction Osteogenesis
- Simultaneous Grafting (all grafting procedures which are done at the time of implant placements)
- Sinus Lift
- Ridge Split Procedure
- Particulate Augmentation Graft
For all of these different grafting modalities, we can use different types of bone grafts. All bonegraft materials can be essentially classified into the following groups, and details about each one of them will be described in their link pages:
- Autografts
- Allografts
- Alloplasts
- Xenografts
- Growth Factor Enhanced Grafts
- Morophogens
