The Significance of Dental Implants and their Root Structure

Dental Implants are the most significant discovery in dentistry in the last 50 years because they offer a means to create permanent, natural looking teeth.

Dr.Singh:

It is very significant because prior to the invention of implants (implantology), we had no way of placing a root structure back into an area where a tooth was lost. So essentially we had to bridge the gap between two adjacent teeth, or place a denture, which would be basically a gum supported appliance that would sit on the gum tissue… and that of course was unstable. It was not a very good solution… but those were the only options that we had. We had no way of anchoring it within the bone. With the advent of an implant, which is essentially an artificial root, we were able to place roots into the bone and provide the anchorage of what ever we want to build on top of it.

Dr.Singh:

Having a root structure gives us the absolute, most natural solution. It basically mimics a root so by building an ideal crown on top of it for example, you can’t tell that there is something artificial underneath. There is just an artificial root that you actually never see because it’s embedded in the bone, so the patient gets the most natural solution for replacing that tooth, that’s possible. Bridges etc., for example, would go across the gap. Upon very close inspection, they wouldn’t be natural looking, and for example, you couldn’t floss like regular teeth. If you had a bridge, you would need many unusual things like threading floss under the bridge. It made it much more difficult to maintain. It wasn’t a very easy solution of the patient. With an implant and a crown, for example, it’s completely natural. It’s as those you need actually lost a tooth… so it’s the best solution that we could have come up with.