How Does a Dental Implant Work?

Osseointegration – The key to dental implant surgery

Dental implants are considered to be the best way to replace lost tooth. The high success rate of dental implant surgery and the Osseointegration process, which ensures a permanent tooth restoration, have made this restoration process very popular in the field of prosthodontics. so how does an alien material integrate with the jawbone to become an integral part of human body? to answer this question, one should understand the various phases of osseointegration process.

The process of bone healing and Osseointegration takes place step-by-step. It is a complex procedure involving clotting of blood vessels, healing the wound and remodeling of bone tissues. The process may take few months.

Blood clotting and first interaction with the titanium implant:

The torquing of an implant into the supporting jaw bone causes the blood vessels inside the bone to rupture. As a result, ions and cerum proteins which are released from blood vessels start to adhere to the titanium implants. The blood starts to clot, thanks to the platelets from blood vessels. All these developments take place after few minutes of the surgery. A fibrin network that connects to the implant is created during this blood clot process.

Healing the wound:

There are immune cells produced in the bone that clear the debris and bacteria which may have crept into the bone during the surgery. This is a complex process which takes place few hours after the surgery.

Creation of new blood vessels and formation of bone tissues over the implant:

This is the most crucial stage of Osseointegration process. Perivascular cells that are formed on blood vessels enable the creation of new blood vessels. The osteoblast form over the titanium surface to form a surface of bone which finely interlocks with the titanium implant. A layer of woven bone is formed by the end of the first week. During the weeks following the surgery, the bone starts to remodel to finely integrate with the implant.

If you have any queries related to Dental implants, feel free to consult our Chino Dentist Dr. Singhal.