How Are Dental Implants Made?
If you have a missing or badly damaged tooth, your dentist may recommend dental implant surgery as a tooth replacement solution. Dental implants are small screw-shaped posts that are inserted into the jawbone that act as an anchor for an artificial tooth such as a crown, bridge, or denture.
Dental implants are extremely popular thanks to their strength, longevity, and natural appearance. If you are considering getting a dental implant, it’s important to learn how are dental implants made and how they work so you can make an informed decision for your oral health.
How Can Dental Implants Help Patients?
Benefits dental implants: For many patients with missing teeth, or teeth that are too damaged to be saved, tooth replacement is the only way for them to feel confident about their smile. However, dental implants can help with more than just aesthetics.
The jawbone under the site of a missing tooth is susceptible to deterioration. If this happens, it can cause several medical and cosmetic issues including tooth drifting, misaligned, or loosened teeth or, in extreme cases, a collapsed facial profile.
Dental implants help to prevent jawbone deterioration due to a missing tooth as they stimulate bone growth, and allow people to eat, talk, and smile with confidence.
What are Dental Implants Made From?
While the term ‘dental implant’ refers to the metal post that functions as a root, when we talk about dental implant surgery it includes the fitting of the entire replacement tooth, which is composed of three parts:
- The tooth implant is the metal post, or screw, typically made from a biocompatible material, titanium. Titanium bonds well with bone, so it forms a solid base for the artificial tooth.
- The abutment, a small structure made of titanium, gold, or zirconia, which holds the crown to the implant post.
- The replacement tooth or teeth. This is usually a custom-made crown but could also be a bridge or denture. Whichever type of artificial tooth is chosen, it will be crafted to blend perfectly with your natural teeth.
How Are Dental Implants Made?
- The process of crafting the metal post begins with a long titanium rod. One 4m rod can be used to make around 200 implants.
- The rod is inserted into a holding device and fed into a lathe system where it spins as computerized tools shape it and cut threads into the outside. These threads help to anchor the implant securely into the patient’s jawbone.
- The rod is then cut to the correct length.
- A drill hollows out the rod and cuts more threads, this time inside the freshly-hollowed out rod. These threads help to secure the artificial tooth to the implant.
- Once the newly-shaped dental implant has been cleaned, it is taken to a vision measuring system where a camera takes pictures of it from all angles. These pictures are analyzed by a computer to ensure the dimensions are perfect.
- When a selection of implants have been cut and measured, they are placed in a special cleaning machine where they are enveloped with solvent vapor which cleans off any residual oils left on the implant from the cutting process.
- The different parts of the dental implant then go through a process called anodization. First, the inside of the implant is anodized to color-code it. Then, the outside is anodized to make it porous, which allows for better osseointegration.
- Finally, the piece is cleaned and sterilized before it is sent to the dentist to perform the dental implant surgery.
