By Arthur Kezian
If you are missing teeth, you don’t have to live with an incomplete smile. Dental implants are a popular and durable way to cover up your missing teeth. And, thanks to new technology, they are better than ever.Did you know that dental implants have been used for thousands of years? Historians say the Ancient Mayans crafted dental implants out of seashells, while the Ancient Egyptians used ivory to replace missing teeth.
Dental implants have made giant strides since then. In fact, the world of dental implants is constantly changing. Luckily, many of the new advances head to the big cities first.
So, what’s making today’s dental implants so high-tech? There are 3 big technological advances that enable your dental implantologist to give you an even better smile:
1. Implants that your body won’t reject called “bio-compactable”, today’s dental implants use titanium. Titanium is the only metal that’s nickel-free – meaning that your body won’t see it as foreign and reject it.
Another benefit to using titanium? It’s strong enough to withstand chewing, drinking, and biting – while still being affordable enough to keep dental implants as a solution for even small budgets.
2. 3D CT scans
Before your dental implant dentist can install your implants, he has to make sure that your jaw bone is healthy enough to hold them. Instead of relying on x-rays, a good will use new 3D CT scans to get a detailed evaluation of your jaw bone’s density, the location of your nerves and sinuses – so that you get a more precise fit.
3. Mini dental implants
Implants can be tough to get. That’s because your mouth has to be in good shape before you can be considered a candidate for them. Some people’s jaw bones have disintegrated too much to hold implants. Other people have missing teeth in tiny spaces that are simply too small for standard dental implants.
But with mini implants, you get a smaller implant. Still made out of titanium, mini dental implants are about half as wide as their larger counterparts. They aren’t screws like standard implants – meaning they don’t need to bond to your jaw bone. They are enabling more and more people to take advantage of!
