Dental Implants: Past, Present, and Future

Dental Implants: Past, Present, and Future

Most people, including many dentists, think the history of the dental implants began in the 1950s with the advent of the titanium screw-style implant. It is interesting to note that archeologists actually credit the first use of dental implants to the Mayan Civilization over 1300 years ago! Excavations of skeletal remains in Honduras in Central America have revealed that pieces of shell, shaped like teeth, had been placed or implanted into the jaws of living Mayans. Half a world away, the ancient Egyptians also experimented with dental implants using materials such as shell, ivory and copper perhaps as far back as 3000 years ago.
While these are interesting historical considerations, the era of modern implant dentistry began quite by accident in 1951. Swedish orthopedic surgeon P. I. Branemark was doing research at Gothenburg University on bone healing. One of his research projects involved placing titanium rods into the bones of animal subjects. When he later attempted to remove the expensive rods he discovered that they had fused to the bone and removal was very difficult. He coined this phenomenon ‘osseointegration’ and this research became the basis for the field of implant dentistry, as we know it today. Recognizing this, he turned his focus to developing a system for replacing missing teeth. Over the next 25 years he researched and placed the first titanium implant to replace a missing human tooth. His early techniques have been taught throughout the world to virtually every dental professional who has been trained in the placement dental implants.

Today, over 40 million people in the developed Western World have lost all of their permanent teeth. These statistics are even higher for other areas such as Africa and Asia.

Additionally, almost 70% of the adults in the US between the ages of 35-44 have lost at least one tooth and by the age of 75, one quarter of the US population has lost all of their teeth. With the ageing of our population, the area of implant dentistry is extremely important to restore the lost function of these missing teeth. In fact, there were more dental implants placed in the past five years than in the first 20 years combined! The use of dental implants is expected to double again in the next five years, as more and more people turn to this option over traditional bridges and removable dentures and partials.

While missing teeth can result in unattractive smiles and general embarrassment, the loss of chewing function can also result in decreased overall health, especially in the elderly, forced to chew or function with ill-fitting dentures. Modern dental implants have become the most successful and predictable treatment option for the replacement of one or more missing teeth.

The overall success rate of dental implants is over 95%. Dental implants have many benefits including: feeling and looking similar to natural teeth, improved cosmetics and chewing function that provides an improved