Osseointegration Of Dental Implant

Dental implants can be considered as one of the most successful form of dental restoration in terms of permanently improving the aesthetics and structure of damaged teeth. According to dental implants los angeles practitioners, of the available types of implants, the most widely accepted and successful today is the osseointegrated implant - an implant that typically uses titanium. This was developed after Swedish Professor Per-Ingvar Branemark discovered that titanium can be successfully fused into bone when osteoblasts grow on and into the rough surface of the implanted titanium.

Osseointegration

Osseointegration is the direct structural and functional connection between living bone and the surface of a load-bearing artificial implant, typically made of titanium. It is a property virtually unique to titanium and hydroxylapatite, and has enhanced the science of medical bone and joint replacement techniques. Other than dental implants, osseointegration is also popular with other forms of medical and surgical applications such as retention of a craniofacial prosthesis such as an artificial ear (ear prosthesis), eye (orbital prosthesis), or nose (nose prosthesis), or bone anchored hearing conduction amplification.

Branemark's Theory Of Osseointegration

According to dental implants los angeles practitioners, Branemark proposed that implants integrate such that the bone is laid very close to the implant without any intervening connective tissue. The titanium oxide permanently fuses with the bone, as Branemark showed in 1950s. Osseointegration can be defined as:

1.

The apparent direct attachment or connection of osseous tissue to an inert alloplastic material without intervening connective tissue.
2.

The process and resultant apparent direct connection of the endogenous material surface and the host bone tissues without intervening connective tissue.
3.

The interface between alloplastic material and bone.

Branemark also stated that the implant should not be loaded and left out of function during the healing period for osseous integration to occur.

Osseointegration Compared To Biointegration

In 1985, Dr. C. de Putter proposed two ways of implant anchorage or retention - mechanical and bioactive. According to dental implants los angeles practitioners, mechanical retention can be achieved in cases where the implant material is a metal, for example, commercially pure titanium and titanium alloys. In these cases, topological features like vents, slots, dimples, threads (screws), etc. aid in the retention of the implant. There is no chemical bonding and the retention depends on the surface area: the greater the surface area, the greater the contact.

Bioactive retention can be achieved in cases where the implant is coated with bioactive materials such as hydroxyapatite. These bioactive materials stimulate bone formation leading to a physico-chemical bond. The implant is ankylosed with the bone.