Aging Gracefully and with Great Health

A Patient's Guide To Dental Implant Titanium Posts And The Osseointegration Process

15 July 2015 by For Content

If you are considering replacing your missing teeth with dental implants, then it is important for you to understand why titanium is the metal of choice for dental implant anchor posts. Unlike other metals, titanium has a unique ability to allow bone cells to attach to it, in a process known as osseointegration. Titanium is also a very safe metal to use in the human body for a variety of different reasons discussed below.

Dental Titanium Basics

Naturally occurring titanium is a very strong metal that is resistant to damage and is not rejected by the human body in the same way that other metals can be. Titanium is non-toxic to people and has been safely used for many years in artificial joints and orthopedic hardware. For these reasons, dental professionals use titanium and titanium alloys in a wide variety of dental applications, including the permanently installed anchor posts for dental implants.

Titanium Alloy Basics

In order to produce a lower-cost workable material, titanium metal is often mixed with other metals in a process known as alloying. Titanium for dental use is often mixed with the metals vanadium and aluminum, both of which are also safe for use in the human body. The resulting titanium alloy is safe for your body and has a unique characteristic known as osseointegration.

Titanium Alloys and the Osseointegration Process

In addition to their strength and non-toxic characteristics, titanium alloys are used in dentistry and medicine because of their ability to osseointegrate within bone cells. Osseointegration is a medical term that refers to the unique ability of bone cells to grow and attach to the foreign metal parts. Other dental-safe metals do not have this ability, so they are not preferable for use in dental implant posts. If other dental-safe metals were used for dental implant anchors, then they would not adhere as well as your jaw bone grows around them, and they would require replacement more frequently as they eventually wiggled their way loose.

Conclusion

Now that you understand the process of osseointegration and why titanium metal is chosen to make dental implant anchor posts, you can feel secure that the metal used in your dental implant posts is safe and will last a long time after osseointegrating into your natural bone. If you have additional questions about dental implants, then you should contact a cosmetic dentist, like those at Ahwatukee Foothills Dental, for a consultation appointment.

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