What Are Osseointegrated Implants?
By Akram Rafla | Published on December 17, 2010 | 0 Comments
An osseointegrated implant is a type of dental implant that is commonly used in dentistry practices across the country. In fact, osseointegrated implants may be the single most popular implants among all of the types available today. In their current form, osseointegrated implants consist of titanium inserts that are placed into the jawbone. According to Dr. Akram Rafla, who specializes in dental implants at his practice in Worcester, MA, an osseointegrated implant looks exactly like the root of a tooth.
The difference between the root of an adult tooth and an osseointegrated implant is that osseointegrated implants are far stronger. Although they may look exactly the same, osseointegrated implants made of titanium inserts are much stronger than anything else. Besides the issue of strength, however, Dr. Rafla says that osseointegrated implants act just like traditional roots. An osseointegrated implant made of titanium is about the same size, length, and diameter of the root of an adult tooth.
When a dentist like Dr. Rafla goes about placing an osseointegrated implant, he will aim to place it in the exact spot where the root would have been. This placement is ideal because it allows the dentist to anchor the implant into the jawbone in a strong and secure way. This, in turn, makes it easy to attach either a single tooth or a bridge to the implant without having to worry about the appliance coming loose or falling out in the future.
Dr. Rafla says that there have been a number of studies done with osseointegrated implants over the past 40 years, almost all of which reported excellent results with the use of these titanium rods. Osseointegrated implants have a success rate of between 97% and 98%, which is extremely high among all the various types of dental implants available today.
The reason why titanium is used in osseointegrated implants, explains Dr. Rafla, is because titanium is the only metal that dentists are aware of that is easily accepted by bone cells. Because bone cells will accept and tolerate titanium, it makes it easy for those cells to grow onto the surface of the implant itself. That is part of the reason why osseointegrated implants have such a high success rate–because most adult bodies will tolerate the implants without any complications. When a person’s bone cells grow onto the surface of an implant, that helps lock the implant in place and ensures that there will not be any shifting once the bridge or tooth is placed on top.
Dr. Rafla says that just about anyone who is missing teeth could be a good candidate for osseointegrated implants, just as long as he or she has enough bone left to place the implant in. With that said, Dr. Rafla explains that advancements in bone regeneration have made it easier to place osseointegrated implants in the mouths of people who would not have been good candidates in the past. At this point in time, he sees very few cases at his practice in which he can’t regenerate the bone and use dental implants in a patient’s mouth. Osseointegrated implants are, therefore, an excellent option for anyone looking to replace one or more missing teeth.
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