A new and improved dental implant

A new and improved dental implant
March 31, 2005
From KING 5 Staff Reports
KING 5 News
No matter how well they take care of your teeth, millions of Americans will end up with dentures, bridges or crowns. As gum disease, decay, and other problems take their toll, people start to lose teeth.
Implants are like artificial tooth roots.
"It seems as I am getting older, my teeth are falling apart, and they're kind of falling apart all at once," said patient Maureen Woodroffe.
Maureen and a growing number of patients are choosing to replace their teeth with dental implants.
"The best way to think of implants are artificial tooth roots,ǃ? said oral surgeon Dr. Steven Schwartz. ǃ?Then we use that as a foundation so we can do single tooth or multiple teeth or stabilizing dentures."
But before an implant can withstand the intense force of chewing, bone has to grow up to and around the implant to anchor it, and even with newer implants that takes a while.
"In many cases, it can be as short as eight weeks or two months given the particular situation," said Schwartz.
Now, an implant just approved by the FDA uses a new way to get the bone to anchor the implant even sooner. Like many implants, the surface is roughened so bone has something to grab on to.
What's new is that the titanium surface is coated with fluoride, a bone-stimulating element. As tiny amounts of fluoride are released, bone cells are induced grow up to and around the implant much more quickly than before.
"There's probably a 30- to 50-percent increase in the rate of healing and bone bonding to the implants,ǃ? said Schwartz. ǃ?So what it boils down to is your implant will heal faster, and it actually will be a bit stronger."
"It's a viable alternative to bridges and eventual dentures," said Woodroffe.
Implants are more expensive than full dentures or a bridge, because they often require more procedures or more time in the chair. Still, they are as close as you can get to real teeth.