The science of implant dentistry is advancing rapidly. One improvement when it comes to dental implants is the use of trabecular metal for the posts that holds the crown. These implants are used to permanently replace teeth that are missing, broken, misshapen or decayed. A tooth-like crown is placed on an abutment attached to a post that has grown in to the bone of the jaw. Now, technology has allowed the bone to actually grow into the post.
What Is Trabecular Metal?
Three dimensional Trabecular Metal Dental Implants are threaded posts that are made of a porous, bone-like material that encourages the patient’s natural bone to grow into it. This makes it even sturdier for an implant that the traditional titanium-only post. With trabecular posts, the titanium post is enclosed in a sleeve of trabecular metal. The fact that the bone grows into the post as opposed to around it also allows the patient a faster recovery time from the procedure.
How’s It Made?
Trabecular metal posts are made by coating a skeleton made out of vitreous or glasslike carbon with tantalum. Tantalum is a biocompatible metal that is already used in surgery. The tantalum then grows on the carbon frame in ways that greatly resemble bone tissue. This results in a material that’s much more porous than titanium fiber mesh, surfaces sprayed with titanium plasma or sintered beads.
Researchers have also found that vitreous carbon is also well tolerated by both humans and animals.
How Is It Implanted?
The trabecular implant is implanted the same way as the titanium implant. After the trabecular implant is placed, the bone of the jaw grows around and into it. This normally takes a few months with traditional implants, and the patient may be fitted with a prosthetic tooth in the meantime. With trabecular metal implants, the healing time can be greatly reduced. When the site has fully healed, a permanent crown can be attached to the post.
After the crown is fixed to the abutment and the post, the patient’s dental hygiene requirements will be about the same as it is for a natural tooth. The patient will have follow-up visits with his or her dentist to make sure that the implant stays healthy.
Four reasons to choose trabecular metal for dental Implants include:
1. They can be more secure than traditional posts
2. They're biocompatible and inert in the body
3. They allow for a faster recovery time for the procedure
4. Dental restorations can be completed much faster