2 Amazing Ways Science Is Improving Dental Implants

Dental implants are already a pretty amazing innovation. Instead of being stuck with dentures or bridges that move around in your mouth or affect your speech, your dentist can give you a replica of an actual tooth that is so close to the actual tooth that no one can see the difference, and you can't even feel the difference. However, dental implants may soon be even more advanced and amazing. Take a look at two remarkable innovations that are making dental implants an even better choice for your mouth.

Diamond Teeth

You've probably seen gold or silver teeth, which are really regular teeth capped with gold or silver. But how do you feel about diamond teeth? That may be the next step in dental implants. Don't worry if you're not interested in large, showy jewels, though — the diamonds in your teeth will be tiny nanodiamonds.

Why add nanodiamonds to dental implants? Because they can encourage bone growth in your jaw and make the implants longer-lasting and less likely to fail. That's because the tiny diamonds have a job to do. The nanodiamonds more effectively deliver proteins to the bones in the jaw that surgeons currently deliver with sponges.

Shark Teeth

Another interesting innovation that you may see soon in dental implants is the use of bioceramic material from shark's teeth. While it may sound strange to use shark's teeth to make human dental implants, it makes sense if you think about it. Unlike humans, who have only two sets of teeth in their lifetimes, sharks grow and replace teeth throughout their lifetimes. If you're looking for a way to give a human an additional set of teeth, it only makes sense to look to the shark for answers.

What Spanish researchers have found shows that bioceramics from shark teeth can help in growing new human bone tissue. This may make dental implants accessible even to those who have already lost bone density in their jaws, and it can certainly aid in the integration of dental implants with existing bone. Bovine bone has some of the same qualities but is controversial to use because of the possibility of mad cow disease. Using bioceramics from shark teeth is safer and may soon result in better and more accessible dental implants.

Dental research may not make as many headlines as some other types of medical research, but dental scientists are making strides all the time. If you're in need of replacement teeth, ask a dentist at a practice like Greeley Dental Health how dental implants could benefit you.

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