Technology has proved crucial, influencing different areas of life, including healthcare. In dental health, it has helped provide innovative solutions to address tooth loss and oral health issues.
High-precision manufacturing technologies such as CNC machining have proved vital. They have helped dentists and dental implant manufacturers revolutionize the field of implantology. Patients with dental challenges now have a long-lasting solution, ensuring they retain their beautiful smiles and oral function.
A typical representation of a dental implant
This article explores how CNC machining relates to dental implants while explaining what they mean, their function, and their structure. Read ahead!
What Are Dental Implants?
Dental implants are artificial tooth roots, prostheses, or surgical fixtures fixed into the jawbones and allowed to fuse with the bones. They often replace missing tooth roots, hence the name artificial tooth root.
Because they interact with body tissues, dental implants must be manufactured with a biocompatible material, mainly titanium or alloy. Moreover, titanium can fuse with surrounding bone tissues, creating a solid foundation for tooth replacements as it mimics the natural tooth root.
Dental implants often require surgery by a qualified dentist or oral surgeon to plant them into the jawbones, supporting prostheses like crowns, bridges, or dentures. They provide stability and support, including improved aesthetics, comfort, and functionality for tooth replacements like dentures and bridges. They may also prove pivotal in preventing bone loss in the jaw as they fuse with the surrounding bone tissue, promoting long-term oral health.
Different components that make up a dental implant
Structures of Dental Implants
Dental implants consist of different components working together to support and stabilize the replacement teeth. Understanding the structure of the artificial tooth is essential for patients and dentists considering implant treatment.
Below, we discussed the critical components of standard dental implants.
Implant Body
The implant body is the most significant feature of the dental implant. It is the component of the dental implant that is surgically planted into the jawbones, serving as the root and foundation for the prosthetic tooth or teeth.
The implant body surgically fitted into the jaw bone
The implant body is often manufactured using high-precision techniques like CNC machining to ensure optimal fit and integration with the jaw bone. As mentioned, it is usually made of titanium alloy or other suitable biocompatible material. However, titanium is the go-to choice because of its high strength, durability, and ability to fuse and integrate with the surrounding bone tissue.
Abutment
The abutment is the connector piece that attaches to the implant body, protruding through the gum line. It features different shapes and sizes to accommodate specific clinical and dental situations. Abutments are the base for attaching the final tooth replacement, whether crown, denture, or bridge. The variation in abutment style may also influence the aesthetics of the tooth replacement.
Threads
Another common component of dental implants is the threads along their surface. These threads help stabilize the implant within the jaw bone, promoting osseointegration. They also help increase the surface area of the plant, allowing for more contact with the bone, which enhances the implant’s stability and durability.
Threads on dental implants come in different patterns and dimensions to suit the specific implant and anatomical conditions and intended surgical techniques for fixing the implant.
Connection Components
Besides the abutment serving as a connector piece, many implants still have other connector components at the interface between the implant body and the abutment. Depending on the implant system, this feature could be internal or external. The external feature is that they are often visible between the implant body and the abutment, while those with internal connection components are often within the implant body.
The connecting components must be manufactured with high precision and accuracy to ensure they attain the desired specification for a seamless fit into the implant and prosthetic. Therefore, like the implant body, CNC machining is the go-to manufacturing process for fabricating them.
Personalized Custom Parts
In addition to the standard dental implant components, personalized custom parts are sometimes required to address clinical or anatomical challenges. These custom parts enhance the implant’s features, making it more suitable for the intended patient.
Custom parts are often designed to suit the patient’s requirements or data obtained from clinical findings from digital imaging techniques such as CT or intraoral scans. Some patients may require customized abutments, connecting, or prosthetic components. Dental implant customization aims to enhance the precision of implant placement, tooth restoration, and patient suitability for optimal outcomes.
Trends of Dental Implants
With increased technological advancement, dental implant tech is continually evolving to meet patients’ and dental experts’ changing needs and preferences. Different trends have emerged to suit these preferences and improve patients’ dental health.
Below, we discussed some of them.
Growing Needs of an Aging Society
Dental implants are more common among older adults because they are more susceptible to dental issues. Therefore, as the global population of adults continues to increase, there’s a direct increase in the demand for dental implant procedures. These older citizens are often predisposed to age-related dental factors like long-term wear and tear of the teeth, dental infections, decay, and gum disease. Consequently, there’s a demand for dental implants to improve dental health, as they offer a reliable and long-lasting solution to replace decaying or missing teeth. They could also restore and maximize oral function and improve the overall quality of life in aging individuals.
Increased Oral Health Awareness
There has never been an upsurge in oral awareness like it is now. There has been a significant increase in oral education and overall health awareness, making people more conscious about their dental health, care, and treatment options for tooth loss. Dental patients and the general public are now more proactive about seeking dental care and funding the best medical approach to enhance their dental health, increased aesthetics, and overall oral health.
Technological Innovation and Progress in Materials Science
Besides increased awareness and growing demands, ever-dynamic technological improvements and innovations also play a crucial role in dental implantology. With improved technology, more treatment options help ensure improved outcomes and patient satisfaction.
Innovative manufacturing methods like 3D printing and CNC machining services, which can integrate computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM), prove vital. These manufacturing techniques ensure incredible precision, accuracy, predictability, and efficiency in manufacturing implants. Also, developing new materials with better biocompatibility and surface modifications has helped enhance osseointegration, reduce healing times, and increase the longevity of dental implants.
Conclusion
Oral health has become an essential aspect of medicine, and technology plays a role in awareness. Manufacturing techniques such as custom and precision machining services have helped dental experts offer personalized solutions and oral rehabilitation to patients with dental challenges. With the aid of dental implants, these individuals can maintain their dental and oral health without worrying about the state of their teeth, retaining their beautiful smiles and improving their quality of life.
