Dental Implants History

The technology of dental implants that we are familiar with today hasn’t always been available. This modern method has revolutionized the tooth replacement industry and has given many more individuals a reason to smile. Through the ages, people have tried different methods with mixed result. Here are some things to think about:

- Earliest devices: The Mayan civilization is reportedly one of the earliest cultures to try out a type of dental implant. In the early 1930’s, archaeologists discovered Mayan artifacts that are believed to have been from 600 AD. Mayans were known to be intelligent thinkers ahead of their time.

They dabbled in astronomy, mathematics and devised an early written language. They also made a type of false tooth implantation with seashells in human jawbones. The team of archaeologists dug up this evidence in skeletons..

- Dentures: Another form of early tooth replacement was sets of dentures. People have always lost teeth for various reasons and many different materials were used to construct replacements. Animal bone, tusks from hippos or rhinos, wood, ceramic, porcelain and skeletons’ teeth have been used over the ages. Today’s dentures are usually constructed from plastic or acrylic. These prosthetic devices were attached with adhesives and not nearly as secure as today’s implantation.

- Titanium is discovered as a bonding tool: The substance of titanium was discovered to be a solution to false tooth adhesion by accident. In 1952, a Swedish physician named Dr. Branemark was doing experiments regarding bone healing tendencies when he learned about the permanent attachment of bone with titanium.

- Father of this technique: Dr. Leonard Linkow is known as the father of dental implantation. He placed his first device in the 1950’s and continued through the 1990’s. By the 1990’s, he had reportedly placed 19,000 devices in patients’ mouths. Dr. Linkow wrote multiple books on the process and patented his inventions as well. He retired from practicing dentistry in 2002.

- Italian physician working on technique simultaneously: An Italian physician named Stefano Melchiade Tramonte was working on his own version of this technique. He was implanting titanium screws into jawbones as prosthetic attachments with great success.

- Continued discoveries: Technology for dental implants continues to expand. Today’s scientists perform research and study methodology to see if they can improve the devices even further. Scientists are looking into zirconia as an alternative bonding product as it has a similar chemical composition as titanium and has been used in orthopedic surgeries with success.

- Why people lose teeth: Humans may lose individual or groups of teeth for various reasons. Decay in the enamel, root or pulp may occur. Gum disease may affect the structures. Accidents or injuries may occur that knocks the oral structures loose or out of the mouth entirely.

Dental implants have become very popular as a method of permanently attaching false teeth, bridges and oral prosthetic devices. Patients are happy with the bonding strength and the lack of adhesives and mess associated with dentures or earlier devices. The material that each false tooth is made from is resilient and quite natural looking.