This was a permanent addition, as he had it hammered into his jaw. Historians are unsure whether or not this procedure was done before his death (it would have been an excruciating procedure to have been done before passing), but regardless it is still the first documented use of fixed replacement teeth. There was also a 2,300-year-old false tooth made of iron in a grave in France, also believed to have been inserted after death.

There is also evidence that accompanying these metal replacements there was the use of animal teeth. These would have been at that time easy to come by, and for many, it would make sense to utilize the teeth of something that no longer needed it to benefit someone who did. However, fast-forwarding to some major advancements, we find ourselves in the 18th century, when dentists began experimenting with alloys with little success. In 1886, a doctor tried to put a porcelain crown over the top of a platinum disk, but that too was unsuccessful as it would not integrate with the bone.

Titanium, as we found, fuses best with bone, and this was discovered by accident by a surgeon in 1952. In 1965 after further study, this same surgeon then installed the first titanium implant in a volunteer. This, in and of itself, proved an absolute turning point in dental history, as we were able to then make improvement after improvement off of this one simple solution. The implants that we use today are still made from titanium alloy and are fixed to the jaw in place of an extracted or lost tooth. Then, as you heal, your jaw fuses with the addition rather than rejecting it as had happened so many times before with so many different materials. This system has incredible success rates!

Our oral surgeons have many years of experience working with dental implants, and we are very confident in our practice. We want you to be comfortable as soon as you walk in the doors, so if you have any questions about an upcoming procedure or dental implants, please feel free to give us a call at (630) 446-2921.