Definition
A dental implant is a "root" device, usually made of titanium, used in dentistry to support restorations that resemble a tooth or group of teeth to replace missing teeth.
Virtually all dental implants placed today are root-form endosseous implants, i.e., they appear similar to an actual tooth root (and thus possess a "root-form") and are placed within the bone (endo- being the Greek prefix for "in" and osseous referring to "bone"). The bone of the jaw accepts and osseointegrates with the titanium post. Osseointegration refers to the fusion of the implant surface with the surrounding bone. Dental implants will fuse with bone, however they lack the periodontal ligament, so they will feel slightly different than natural teeth during chewing.
Prior to the advent of root-form endosseous implants, most implants were either blade endosseous implants, in that the shape of the metal piece placed within the bone resembled a flat blade, or subperiosteal implants, in which a framework was constructed to lie upon and was attached with screws to the exposed bone of the jaws.
Dental implants can be used to support a number of dental prostheses, including crowns, implant-supported bridges or dentures. They can also be used as anchorage for orthodontic tooth movement. The use of implants permits undirectional tooth movement without reciprocal action.

The ancient times

The history of dental implants begins more than 1300 years ago with the ancient Mayans. Back in 600 AD, a young woman was missing some of her lower teeth. The same as any modern woman, she wanted her smile beautified. She received what is perhaps one of the world's first dental implants. It was made from pieces of shell shaped to resemble teeth.

The beginning of the modern Dental Implant [http://global-mds.com/component/jshopping/category/view/1?Itemid=101]

In 1951, a Swedish orthopedic surgeon named Per-Ingvar Brånemark came across the concept quite by accident, but a fortuitous accident it was.
Professor Brånemark and his research team were studying microscopic aspects of the bones' healing process in lab at the University of Lund. During one of their experiments, a titanium metal cylinder was screwed into the thighbone of an animal test subject.
Upon further examination of the bone and metal cylinder, Professor Brånemark observed something surprising: the metal cylinder had fused with the bone.
Researchers came to realize,that Titanium was the only consistently successful material for the implants. Before Dr. Brånemark's work, other doctors had been toying with the idea of dental implants for years. A host of other metals, including silver and gold, had failed. Even human teeth (from donors) were tried.

Dental Implants [http://global-mds.com/component/jshopping/category/view/1?Itemid=101] today

Guidelines for implantology were set during the Toronto Conference in Clinical Dentistry in 1982. The public began to accept that dental implants were safe. The standardization of the process during the conference proved to be the jumpstart the implantology needed.
Over the next two decades, technology has only continued to improve the process. For instance, slight modifications to the titanium proved to increase healing time. As time goes by and as the practice of dentistry advances, patients will continue to see Dental Implants [http://global-mds.com/component/jshopping/category/view/1?Itemid=101] becoming quicker, easier, and less painful.

David Orcea
http://www.global-mds.com