Dental Implants: From the Mayans to the Modern
Article Source: HealthSnare.com
Members of the Mesoamerican culture, the Mayans, have been known for providing humanity with such advances as the development of the mathematical concept of zero and the discovery that a solar year is in fact a little more than 365 days and, of course, the infamous Mayan calendar. But, did you know that if it weren't for the Mayans dental implant technology might not be what it is today?
While excavating Mayan burial sites in 1931 in Honduras, archaeologists unearthed a piece of a Mayan mandible, or jawbone, dating back to about 600 AD. However, it is what was found lodged in the jawbone that is exciting and pertinent to dental implants. Three tooth-shaped pieces of seashells were found inserted into the missing sockets of three lower teeth.
Important discovery
For years, archaeologists believed that the seashells were placed posthumously, however, it was not until the 1970s and the radiography work of Brazilian professor Amadeo Bobbio, that the truth about the shells was discovered. The shells, Bobbio proved, had been inserted before death, as was evidenced by compact bone formation around the crude implants.
Twenty years prior to Bobbio's discovery, research had begun in Cambridge that resulted in the principle of using titanium tubes as a method of studying blood flow in rabbits. The titanium tubes were placed inside the soft tissue of rabbit's ears and blood flow was monitored. At the end of the study, scientists attempted to remove the titanium tubes but found that they could not as the bone of the rabbit had grown in such close proximity to the titanium that the two had fused together.
Advanced in medical technology
This discovery led to advances in medical technology which made it possible for titanium to be used in a variety of genres, from prosthetics to dental implants. About 10 years after the rabbit/titanium discovery, an Italian doctor, Stefano Melchiade Tramonte, began using a titanium screw support system to fasten his dentures in place. After the success Tramonte experienced with his own dental prosthesis, he began incorporating the use of titanium in his patient's procedures and in 1966, the positive results of this advancement in human medical science were published.
Due to this and other independent research, a United States patent was issued for the use of titanium dental implants in 1969. Today, titanium dental implanting is conducted as an outpatient procedure, performed under general anaesthesia.
What we see today
The implant is an artificial replacement for the root portion of a natural tooth that is anchored into a pre-drilled socket in the jawbone. The implant is then placed as close to the jawbone as possible to ensure that the two materials fuse together, which creates a stable support for the new tooth.
This archaeological discovery decades ago has forever changed the way doctors deal with broken bones, prosthetics and missing teeth. Although we have abandoned the rather rudimentary practices of the Mayans, the history of dental implants will always be rooted in the Mayan culture as a precursor for one of the most effective and influential medical inventions of the 20th century.
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Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2010 Time: 12:26 AM
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