Nervous or Afraid About Dental Implants? Read This!

We like to think that we grow out of our childhood woes and worries, but some do linger. While you might not still be convinced that the old lady down the street was a witch, enabling you to walk past her house without breaking into a sprint, you may still be a little hesitant to see your dentist and ask about procedures such as dental implants.

Fear no more; we’re here to put your mind at rest and your heart at ease, so you can look forward to our dental implants services and your new smile!

1. We’ve Been Working On This For Centuries

Dental implants aren’t a completely new-fangled contraption; we’ve been trying to replace missing teeth with implants since ancient human history. The ancient Chinese developed dental pegs from bamboo, and inserted them into the jaw to act as teeth. The Egyptians played around with other materials, fashioning pegs from metals, ivory, and even human teeth.

Modern implants take all of those previous attempted and added one crucial element; titanium. In 1965, Swedish scientists discovered that titanium screws can fuse to the bone, and this has been perfected and refined since to create the smooth implant procedure we have today.

2. We Are Meticulous Planners

Implant surgery is not an interpretive art form, or a game of Guess Who. Your dentist will examine your specific condition, and will plan out the course of action accordingly. After x-rays and careful evaluation, your dentist will decide where the implants will be best placed to support new teeth and the quality of your bone.
If you have any questions, your dentist can answer them long before you undergo surgery.

3. Anaesthetic And Sleep Dentistry

Carillon City Dental can ensure that you’re completely comfortable and relaxed for the procedure, with a local anaesthetic through small shots near the surgical site. Sleep dentistry is also incredibly popular with procedures such as dental implants, if you’d rather ‘zone out’ and leave us to it. Post-care is straightforward, with mild pain relief and regular rinsing with anti-bacterial mouthwash.


4. You'll Love It When You See Your New Smile!

Once your mouth has healed, we will fit your new implants to complete your new grin. They will look and feel natural, and you can resume life as normal with recommended oral hygiene. The new tooth will blend perfectly in with the rest of your smile, and will function as a natural tooth would.

Dental implants are quickly becoming the preferred service to replace missing teeth and fix smiles. If you’re concerned about dental implants, simply call our friendly team at Carillon City Dental and organise a consultation with one of our expert dentists. We can discuss all of your options with you and make sure you feel completely confident and comfortable.

Dental Implants: A Brief History

Dentistry has come a long way from the infected tooth cleaned with flint tools around 14,000 years ago - fortunately for many of us. In fact, it’s pretty incredible to see how much technology has influenced and driven our dental care, dental implants included.

Dental implants are a common procedure now in Perth, but their history is surprisingly fascinating. Whether it’s for your personal knowledge at the next Trivia night or you want to know more about how dentists arrived at today’s procedure, read on below to find out the history of dental implants.

2500 BCE

Thousands of years ago, the Egyptians of North Africa used gold wire to develop ligatures, which kept the teeth stable, and remains have been found of an Egyptian king with a copper tooth connected to his upper jaw. The evidence of this have been found in mummies, and was seemingly replicated thousands of years later by the Phoenicians who used similar ligatures to splint their teeth. At a similar time to the Phoenicians, the Etruscans were pulling damaged teeth and replacing them with oxen bones.  

2300 BC

Although this was probably a cosmetic posthumous procedure, we thought we’d still include it. An iron false tooth over 2300 years old was found in a Celtic grave in France. Due to the procedure involved where the iron tooth was hammered (yes, hammered) into the jawbone, experts say that this was probably done for appearance reasons after death.

2000 BC

Bamboo, whittled down and carved into pegs, has been found among Chinese remains from 4000 years ago, where they were used as makeshift dental implants.

AD

Around 2000 years ago, it was common to use teeth from animals, slaves, and poor people as replacement teeth, although they were highly susceptible to infection and would usually be rejected from the host. However, by the 7th century, humans had been utilising many different materials to develop implants - a particularly fascinating find was uncovered in Mayan ruins in Honduras. The human jaw contained three shells, carved into the likeness of teeth and implanted into the lower jaw. This find caught particular attention, as the bone surrounding the shell was showing signs of regeneration and acceptance of the new tooth! This bone fusion was a huge achievement, making this procedure incredibly successful for its time.

Modern Times:

After a hit-and-miss era of various metals and alloys, a 1950’s surgeon discovered that bone regeneration could integrate titanium successfully, and in 1965 he implanted his first titanium dental implant into a live human volunteer.

Dental implants are now an incredibly safe, comfortable, and affordable procedure. With the cost and risk reduced, dentists today have very little need for iron teeth and hammers. If you want to know more about what to expect from dental implants today and whether they’re right for you, talk to our friendly team to organise an appointment or consultation.