Osseointegration

Since tooth loss from disease and trauma has always been a feature of mankind¿s existence, it is not surprising that the history of tooth replacement is a long one. Evidence from ancient civilizations shows that attempts were made to replace missing teeth by banding artificial tooth replacements to remaining teeth with metal many centuries ago. The ideal goal of modern dentistry is to restore the patient to normal contour, function, comfort, esthetics, speech, and health. A dentist provides this restoration for living either by removing caries from a tooth or by replacing several teeth. Implant dentistry is unique because of its ability to achieve this goal regardless of the atrophy, disease or injury of the stomatognathic system. However, the more teeth a patient is missing, the more challenging this task becomes.