Are all dental implants the same?

What is a dental implant?

One of the most modern and successful methods of restoring lost teeth is dental implantation. This is not a brand-new treatment method. It was used even in ancient civilisations. The first modern procedure of this kind was performed in Sweden in 1965. With the rapid development of implantology in recent decades, dental implantation has become an everyday phenomenon in practical dentistry.

A dental implant is an artificial root in the form of a screw that is inserted into the bone, to which a crown is attached.

How do dental implants hold in the bone?

Macroscopic and microscopic unevenness is created on the implant surface. Since the implant is made of a material that is compatible with the body, the bone simply grows over it and locks it in place. This is called the phenomenon of osseointegration. The ability of titanium to osseointegrate was discovered in Sweden in 1957.

What materials are dental implants made of?

Dental implants are usually made of titanium (Ti). This metal is widely used in medicine because it is highly biocompatible with natural tissues. The body does not recognise titanium as a foreign material. Allergies to titanium occur in 0.6% of the population.

The fabrication of dental implants from other materials (e.g. zirconium oxide ceramics) has not proven to be sufficiently effective in practice.

Who fabricates dental implants?

Currently, there are hundreds of dental implant manufacturers. The manufacturer is chosen by the doctor, as well as by the patient, based on their own reliability criteria. Very often, the decisive factor is price or marketing tricks. However, the long-term prospects of using dental implants are sometimes overlooked. After all, these “objects” are fitted inside our bodies.

When choosing an implant system, you need to have clear answers to the following questions:

• Do the people who manufacture the implants and ensure their quality have a high work ethic?
• If the implant fails to fuse, will there be any doubt that this could be the fault of the manufacturer?
• How does the bone react to these implants over time?
• Do these specific implants have any scientific basis?
• Is the quality of this manufacturer’s products continuously monitored by independent experts, and are long-term clinical studies conducted?
• Is this an old and reliable manufacturer that values its reputation?
• Is there a risk that the manufacturer will disappear one day, leaving you without the necessary information for future maintenance of the implants?
• Is the manufacturer well known among implantologists and will it be possible to repair the prostheses in different countries?

Although almost all dental implants are made from similar materials, they are not made by the same hands.

At our clinic, we use dental implants of varying prices, but only from reliable manufacturers, taking into account our patients’ needs. For example, we use implants from Dentsply, Swedish Astra Tech and Swiss Straumann (see: www.implantsforlife.com, www.dentsplyimplants.com, www.straumann.lt , www.straumann.com).

These long-standing manufacturers with a high work ethic are rightly considered to be among the most important creators of the “implantology bicycle”. The scientists who developed the Astra Tech and Straumann implants were the ones who made a number of fundamental discoveries that are now indispensable in modern dental implantology: they were among the first to use a precise, conical tooth crown-implant connection and the concept of different platforms, and they were the first to roughen the surface of implants and use microgrooves in the neck. As a result, implant systems by these manufacturers are known worldwide as the most scientifically proven dental implant systems and the most effective at protecting the jawbone over the years.