What is a dental implant?
A dental implant is an artificial titanium tooth root that is surgically anchored into your jaw bone and designed to hold a replacement tooth or bridge in place. The benefit of using implants is that they don’t rely on neighbouring teeth for support and they are fixed, immobile and therefore stable – unlike dentures. Implants are a good solution to tooth loss because they can look and feel like natural teeth.
Implants are made from different types of metallic and bone-like ceramic materials that are compatible with body tissue. There are hundreds of different implant systems available today all with varying designs, shapes and configurations. Several major implant companies exist and it is recommended that when choosing an implant you stick to using one of the major implant systems.
Implants come in different widths and lengths. More recently the use of ‘mini implants’ has become popular.
