dental report

dental report

Bonnie Kalka
Dr. Linda Schuller
ENG-112-
April 17, 2010
Dental Implants
      Tooth loss due to periodontal disease, decay, or trauma prevents many people from having proper tooth function (Darby and Walsh 1076).   This creates a problem that needs fixing.   There are three things you can do; get an implant, get a fixed or removable denture, or leave the space open with nothing filling it.   The best treatment is to get an implant placed in the area where there is now a missing tooth.   A dental implant outweighs all the other options because it provides the closest option to natural tooth stability and esthetics, the surgery is simple and comfortable, it does not affect the teeth around it, there is not bone loss over time, and it fills the void where malocclusion does not occur.
      Implants first started in 1965 when Per-Ingvar Branemark an anatomy professor achieved a bone-to-implant breakthrough.   It offered enough strength to function as a real tooth in the mouth.   He coined this connection as osseointegration (Newman, Takei, Klokkevold, and Carranza 1073).   Since then millions of patients are getting this treatment done to help support their oral cavity.   Endosseous implants are the most widely used.   According to Ester Wilkins an endosseous implant is defined as “an implant placed within the bone to replace a single tooth or provide support for the replacement of complete or partial loss of teeth” (491).   Implants are primarily made of titanium.   They consist of three parts the implant fixture which is placed in the bone of the mandible or maxilla, the abutment which is attached to the top of the implant protruding out of the gingiva which is the attachment apparatus of the clinical crown (Wilkins 492).   The implant fixture is often coated with a synthetic material to enhance bone formation by acting as a biocompatible interface.   The implant fixture looks similar to a screw, and this is done to create more surface area to achieve better attachment...