Uncovering the truth behind ancient dental implants. In fact, the practice of replacing teeth was actually attempted as early as 400 B.C.! Civilizations in Egypt, South America and China are now known to have used materials such as stone, ivory, wood, seashells, animal and cadaver teeth, and gold to fill the holes in their mouths. I don’t know about you, but placing a sharp piece of anything into my jaw bone sounds less than desirable. Yet, all over the world archeologists are finding examples of humans practicing ancient dentistry. In La Chêne, France, an iron pin was discovered in the jaw of a 2,300 year old skeleton buried in a Celtic grave. Scientists are unsure whether it served an esthetic or functional purpose, but it is amazing to see early efforts to practice sophisticated dentistry. One of the most remarkable observations is that some of these ancient implants are covered by calculus. That means the implants stayed in place for a considerable period of time, even until the death of the patient. No news on whether they were pain free throughout the patient’s life. In the more modern era, metals such as lead, iridium, tantalum, stainless steel and titanium have been used to replace teeth. It was in the 1960’s that P.I. Branemark discovered osseointegration and was thus named the “Father of Implantology”. Today’s most popular design is the titanium threaded root-form implant. Standard procedures require two surgical phases and a prosthetic phase. I wonder what the “procedures” consisted of in B.C. times. Although we may never know how or why these ancient humans inserted dental implants, it is certain that they would be astounded by how far their primitive efforts have extended into current practices. courtesy ; Laura Nelson
Posted on: Sat, 11 Oct 2014 08:23:55 +0000
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