Dental Implants – A History
What we now consider modern dental implantology started soon after World War II. Doctors Norman Goldberg and Aaron Gershkoff produced the first modern dental implant in 1948. This success formed the foundation of Implant Dentistry.
The “Roots” of Dental Implantation
It might surprise you to know that the craft of dental implantation began in ancient Egypt. Seashells and stones would be carved and used to replace missing teeth.
In the 1930s archeological excavations turned up artifacts showing that other civilizations, existing 2,000 years ago in South and North America, and regions of the Middle East, Asia, and The Mediterranean replaced missing teeth using carved stone, shells, bones and gold. In Honduras, a bone with implants and tissue formation around two of three implanted shells was found.
In the middle ages dental implants utilizing actual transplants were performed but abandoned due to the inability to control rejection and infection.
Modern Dental Arts
In 1949, Dental Digest published an article by Goldberg and Gershkoff detailing their early success. They went on to pioneer the teaching of their techniques among dental academia, and together wrote the first textbook on Implant Dentistry in 1957.
At around that time, Per-Ingvar Brånemark was studying bone regeneration when he discovered that bone could grow around a titanium implant without it being rejected. Not only was titanium and bone compatible, it was possible to integrate the two. Brånemark called this osseointegration, and in 1965 he used 4 titanium implants to place a fixed set of dentures into one of his patients. These first permanent, state of the art, titanium dental implants lasted for the rest of the man’s life (40 years).
Brånemark continued to study the relation of implants and bone formation, and in 1982 he presented his research at the Toronto Conference on Osseointegration in Clinical Dentistry. That same year, the FDA approved the use of Titanium dental implants and it was at this time that Brånemark's methods became the standard in the practice of dental implantation.
In 1983, Dr. Matts Andersson developed CAD/CAM, the NobelProcera branded method of computer-aided design and manufacturing of dental crowns. Recent progress in the field has focused on materials and techniques to improve the comfort and aesthetics of dental implants, and in 1992 dental ceramics became sophisticated enough to be used not only for the natural look of porcelain crowns, but as an aid to osseointegration.
Modern dental ceramics came on the scene in 1992 and from that time on,dental implant manufacturers and practices have incorporated ceramic surface treatments and features to implants for increased success.
To date, billions of dental implant procedures have been performed with a 95% success rate, and very little risk of serious complications.
Interested to find out how dental implants can help you achieve your perfect smile? Schedule a consultation with Dr. Delcambre in New Orleans, Louisiana today!