Implant Healing Times to be Reduced
For years, titanium has been the ideal choice for dental implants used to replace lost teeth, because of the speed at which the body accepts this material. But recent studies have discovered that the time it takes for the full recovery of a patient following the introduction of a dental implant, could actually be greatly reduced even further!
This reduction of healing time has been brought about by researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. It has been discovered, through the study of the nano levels of the implant, that altering the conductivity levels of the implant can actually positively affect the biomechanics of the body, thus decreasing the healing period for the patient.
The main reason that titanium is so accepted by the body is because of a layer of oxides that cover the surface of the used titanium. These oxides help to ease the transition as the titanium is taken into the body and reduces the chance of the body rejecting it. This discovery was first made by Per-Ingvar Branemark who was recently awarded the European Inventor Award for his discovery and titanium has now been used in implants for 40 years.
One researcher at the University of Gothenburg, Johanna Loberg, has discovered that the topology (that’s rough or smoothness to you and me) directly affects the effectiveness of the implant. Fairly soon into the research it was discovered that a rough surface is much more effective than a smooth one. Because of the importance of the topology of the implant, a new method of measuring the roughness of implants has been implemented. This difference is in tiny proportion of course, varying in scale from micrometre to nanometre. This method was also developed by Johanna Loberg.
The use of both varying roughness and implementing the conductivity levels of an implant have both proved to decrease the healing time of patients following an implant, news that will surely make life a lot more comfortable for patients who need implants in the future.
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