History of the Implantology
Today, general medicine is capable of replacing numerous organs with artificial substitutes. Over the last 30 years, there has also been a breakthrough in dental medicine with a new special field dealing with the implantation of "artificial tooth roots" (implants), dental implantology. Not counting the very first field tests, which took place long ago, this new era began in the 1970s.
The development of this special field was characterised by a wide variety of implant forms and materials, e.g. titanium blade implants, tantalum pins, ceramic screws, titanium screws or cylinders. But what almost all of them had in common was that they were implanted into the jaw bone (enossal implants) in the hope of osseous healing.
During the last 30 years it has become clear that implants grow into the bone best if they are made of titanium. This osseous healing is referred to as osseointegration. But osseointegration can also be observed with ceramics, with which great progress has been made in recent years, also in terms of their mechanical properties. Nevertheless, the vast majority of implants on the market today are still made of titanium. Titanium is a biocompatible metal which is accepted by the body and which does not cause allergies. This is because of the very stable oxide layers that build up on its surface in combination with oxygen, and that prevent corrosion and emission of particles into the organism.