In a word, the answer is no. Dental implants are not rejected by the body.

Implants vs Transplant Explanation

Most of us are aware of the problems associated with organ or tissue “implants”. A “transplant” is the correct word to describe the procedure involved. This involves whole organ transplantation that involves living tissue, and includes well known transplants such as kidneys, liver, or even a heart in extreme cases.

Heart Transplant vs Dental Implant

Because of genetic differences, natural rejection of these organs as foreign tissue will occur, unless steps are taken to fool the body. To prevent this problem, powerful drugs are given (lifelong) to suppress the immune system and allow for long term success.

This is NOT necessary with dental implants. Why?

Dental Implants Not Made of Living Tissue

Dental implants are not living tissue, but are made of materials that are compatible with and accepted by the body. They are usually made mostly of titanium, an especially bio-compatible material. They can also be coated with a micro thin layer of hydroxyapatite (a bone like substance) which is also recognized as normal to the body, though unnecessary for predictable success.

Since dental implants are accepted as part of the body, they cannot be rejected as a foreign substance, such as a living organ. Therefore, dental implants enjoy a fantastic success rate of over 97%!! – perhaps the most successful procedure in all of dentistry.

Implants Can Fail – But Rarely

Even though implants can fail – this rarely happens. When and if they do, this not a rejection of the implant, but a failure of normal bone to grow around the implant, normal care by the patient, infection, poor bone quality, or other factors. These rare problems are sometimes wrongly attributed to rejection of the dental implant. Correction of the underlying problem, allowing the bone to heal, will permit insertion of another implant to be placed with great success!

Implants Enjoy Highly Predictable Success Rate

Successful Dental Implants – Montgomery AL

This fact alone speaks to the fact that dental implants are not rejected by the body, but enjoy a highly predictable success rate.

You can be assured that your choice to enjoy the great benefits of dental implants will provide you with a lifetime of normal chewing function and a beautiful smile.

Of course, good home and professional care are important to ensure the high success rate of dental implants.

Dr. Dale Entrekin has many years of training and experience to provide you with predictable and highly successful results with your dental implants. This success results from his attention to every detail, from proper expert placement of each implant, to the final teeth that he provides. He and his staff, strive to make your treatment as comfortable as possible in a pleasant, caring atmosphere.

Call Dr. Entrekin’s office today to begin your journey to the comfortable, lasting, and beautiful smile made possible with dental implants!

Factors to Consider for Dental Implants

As you may imagine, various factors must be considered for each individual. These will include the length of time teeth have been missing, the intended location of the dental implant, the amount of bone that remains, the quality of bone, the overall health of the patient, and the preference of the patient.

The longer the teeth are missing, the less bone will be available to receive the intended dental implant. Bone loss in such situations is a normal process where the body actually will resorb and remodel the remaining bone where teeth have been removed. If the patient wears a removable partial or a full denture, then the loss of bone is greatly increased. This results in that awful “denture look”.

The location of the dental implant is another important consideration – whether upper or lower jaw and the front or the back of the jaw. The bone in the lower jaw is more dense than the bone in the upper jaw. This is normal.

Special Considerations on Dental Implant Jawbone Sites

dental implant jawbone location

In the upper jaw, the location of the upper sinus on each side of the jaw must be considered. If the sinus is in the desired location of the dental implant, then a procedure can be performed to add bone to the area before the implant is placed.

In the lower jaw, the location of the nerve that provides feeling to the lips and chin must be considered and avoided. Virtually always, that is not a problem and does not prevent the placement of the dental implants.

The amount of bone available depends on the factors discussed above. As bone is lost, the bone will be reduced both in height and in width which determines Dr. Entrekin’s choice of dental implants. The bone in either jaw can become thin in width and less in height. Therefore, various sizes of dental implants (length and width) are available.

Usually, bone quality is not a real factor unless the patient has been taking the common prescription medications that are used to (hopefully) prevent osteoporosis.

These drugs can be a serious detriment to good bone quality and should not be used, at least for the long term.

Implant Patient’s Overall Health is a Factor

overall good health for dental implant procedures

The overall health of the patient is a major factor to consider with the placement of dental implants. Any serious medical, or dental, issues must be treated. Generally speaking, most chronic (ongoing) medical issues that are well controlled do not prevent the use of dental implants. Dr. Entrekin will carefully evaluate all issues that may be present, and make recommendations accordingly.

This will also include a thorough oral examination to eliminate any potential problems, and instructions in good home care for the mouth.

Implant Patient Preference Should Be Considered

Once you have decided to have dental implants placed, then you may have the opportunity to choose either fixed or removable teeth to be supported by your dental implants. Fixed teeth are permanently cemented onto the implants and cannot be removed. Removable teeth are also supported by the dental implants and can be removed by the patient for cleaning. Once in the mouth, they also are solidly stable and function much like permanent teeth. The number of missing teeth will be considered before any decision is made.

The situation and desire of each individual patient will also help determine which is best.

Both fixed or removable teeth that are supported by dental implants offer the confidence, eating ability, and beautiful smile of natural teeth.

These are only some of the factors that are to be considered when choosing dental implants. Others are usually minor. Once these issues are cleared, then you can be on your way to excellent dental health!

Dr. Entrekin has the training, expertise, and caring manner to provide you with the excellence in care that you desire. Do yourself a great favor and call for your dental implant examination appointment. He and his office staff look forward to seeing you soon!

Dental Implant Dentist

Dental Implants are important because many people loose teeth for various reasons, resulting in several undesired effects:

• Less than normal nutrition because of inability to eat many foods.
• Loss of normal facial contours as bone is diminished.
• Potential loss of additional teeth as any remaining teeth are overstressed.
• Pain with popping and clicking noises in the jaw joints due to unbalanced jaw movements to accommodate the loss of teeth.
• Unsightly appearance.
• Affected speech.

After the loss of teeth, you should plan to replace missing teeth as soon as possible to eliminate these negative effects and to preserve the remaining bone. The most popular and pleasing method today to restore natural function and appearance is the use of dental implants. No other method can begin to compare to the immense advantages that dental implants offer.

Dental Implant Advantages

The advantages of these implants are numerous and can last a lifetime. In addition to a normal function, with the stability of natural teeth, dental implants restore that beautiful smile that is so desirable. The patient has a renewed sense of confidence that is not possible with removable teeth, whether full or partial dentures. Only the total stability and permanence of dental implants can offer that great benefit. Once again, you can eat whatever you desire without the risk of embarrassment.

However, just as with any health matter, implants must receive the care that will ensure their lifetime use. Just as natural teeth, dental implants are dependent upon good oral hygiene, and professional cleaning and care. Without this a patient can risk problems and the possible loss of teeth and implants. Teeth can fail. So can implants, but it is rare. Dental implants are the most successful method to replace lost teeth available anywhere.

Dental Implants – Possible Causes of Failure

Here are a few unnecessary reasons dental implants can fail:

• Smoking during the healing phase. Tobacco is know to emit toxic chemicals that can interfere with the normal healing process. It also reduces the tissue content of vitamin C which is important to healing.
• 

  dental implant oral hygiene

  Poor oral hygiene. The best and most important way to maintain good oral health is cleanliness. Proper flossing, brushing, and professional cleaning, are vital to keeping teeth and dental implants healthy.

• Poor nutrition. Adequate levels of vitamins and minerals can be established by good supplements that enhance proper healing, if necessary.
• Uneven bite forces. Just as natural teeth can be overloaded, so can dental implants. This indicates that implants should be placed where necessary to balance these forces of chewing so that they are not overloaded.
• Night grinding. This indicates a problem with the overall occlusion or the way the biting forces are unevenly applied. Your implant dentist can prevent this potential damage.

We have now reviewed the tremendous importance of dental implants, and some of the issues that can cause problems. There are reasons teeth are lost, but dental implants offer the most comfortable and effective method to replace missing teeth.

With proper care, dental implants restore the look and confidence of natural teeth, without the fear of loosing teeth – ever again. Call Montgomery Dental Implants today (334) 649-6299 for an appointment.

Recent history informs us that modern dental implants are extraordinarily successful. A large body of sound scientific research and decades of clinical use have verified and validated their usefulness in replacing missing teeth. Modern dental implants have been in use since the 1970s. Since that time they have undergone many improvements in design, but always with a variation on the same theme. However, dental implants for today’s patients were pioneered in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s. Their research was continued in the U.S. in earnest in the 1960s, which led to the development and acceptance of dental implants in general practice.

Mayan Use of Dental Implants

Even early civilizations recognized the benefit of tooth replacement with different kinds of implants. Dental implants have been tried almost since humans have been using technology. They date back hundreds if not thousands of years — with varying degrees of success. The earliest attempts at dental implant tooth replacements on record were discovered in the Mayan civilization dating back to 600 A.D. Archeologists have recovered ancient skulls in which teeth were replaced by materials ranging from carved stones, such as jade, to fragments of seashells. Despite primitive methods and materials, some of these early dental implants actually fused to the jawbone.

Titanium Fuses with Bone

As with many scientific advances, the discovery of what makes current dental implants successful was certainly a result of tremendous ingenuity and courage. In 1952, an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. P.I. Branemark, noted that he could not remove a small titanium cylinder he had placed in a bone to study how bone healed. The titanium had fused with the bone. This special property that titanium has, called osseointegration (“osseo” – bone; “integration” – fusion or joining with), is the biological basis of modern implants’ success.

Dr. Linkow – “Father of Modern Implant Dentistry”

Many implant dentists refer to Dr. Leonard Linkow as the father of modern implant dentistry. Dr. Linkow graduated from dental school in 1952, then motivated by Dr. Cherchev from France, placed his first dental implant just four months later. By 1992, Dr. Linkow stopped keeping up with the number of implants that he had placed at over 19,000. He retired from private practice in 2002 after 50 years of dental implant practice, 17 books, and 36 patents. Dr. Linkow shared his knowledge freely and energetically all over the world.

An Italian medical doctor, Stefano Melchiade Tramonte, designed and began using a titanium screw to support his dental restorations on many of his patients in his clinic from 1959 after coming to understand that titanium could be used to support a dental prosthesis. The results of his clinical studies on humans were published in 1966. This was the start of a the development of dental implant development, mainly by implant dentists throughout the world. Many types of materials and many different and sometimes strange technical treatments have been applied over the following years.

Research in the United States

Contemporaneous independent research in the United States by Stevens and Alexander led to a 1969 US patent filing for titanium dental implants. Also important is the American engineer Tom D. Driskell. His groundbreaking work can still be found again in the products of the ingenious Bicon implant system.

Dental implants were first introduced for people who had lost all of their teeth and who had great difficulty stabilizing or tolerating dentures, largely because they had lost so much of the jawbone upon which dentures rest. It was well known even then that osseointegration is best in dense bone, generally in the front part of the lower jaw. However, as newer techniques were developed, implants have great success in all areas in either the upper or lower jawbone.

Today most implants are used to replace either single or multiple missing teeth. The implants first used in the pioneering system were basically a one-size-fits-all design. The original implants were all the same width (circumference) with only the length being variable. The original surfaces of the implants were machined smooth and polished, but still produced predictable success.

Modern implants come in a variety of shapes and sizes to suit the different teeth they replace, and for the types of prosthetic (false) teeth they will replace. Their surfaces have been improved to enhance the osseointegration process. Instead of being smooth or machined, they are generally roughened by sandblasting and acid etching, which dramatically increases the surface area to which bone can attach. Dental implants are often covered in a thin layer of material that mimics normal bone and enhances the attachment to bone. Some hip replacement implants are designed from the lessons learned from dental implant success, thus greatly improving the success rate and longevity of those hip implants. Much of this development was done at the University of Alabama Medical Center in Birmingham by Dr. Jack Lemmons.

Multitudes of patients, dental implant surgeons, and restorative dentists, owe a great debt of gratitude to the pioneers of implant surgery, that has brought so much joy and comfort to so many.