Understanding the components of a dental implant and their differences from natural teeth

Although implants are known as a suitable substitute for natural teeth, in practice there are significant differences between natural teeth and dental implants that make the use of dental implants subject to their own protocols.

First, let’s take a look at natural teeth and their differences from implants.

Natural teeth are made of hydroxyapatite, which grows the pulp or dental nerve inside, and around that is the dentin part with 70 percent organic materials and 30 percent minerals, and finally on the dentin, the enamel is completely made of hard minerals, about 96 percent, depending on the area of ​​about 1.5 to 3 to 5 millimeters, against the penetration of microorganisms and other materials.

And in principle, teeth are alive and dependent on the human body, around which the periodontal ligament has both a spring-like and flexible property and is connected to the surrounding soft tissue with various ligaments.

The physical shape of natural teeth varies from oval in the trunk to square or rectangular in the posterior teeth, and even in relation to the pressures they are supposed to bear, they are two-rooted or three-rooted in the chair teeth.

While the situation is different in dental implants. First, it is not a living being. But it is a foreign entity, but compatible with the body, made of a material called titanium, which is found in nature as titanium oxide on the surface. In other words, the human body does not recognize it as a foreign agent. So, there is no defense against its rejection by the human body. Such materials are called bio-inert.

In the past, there were different shapes of these types of implants, but what is popular in dentistry are round screw-shaped implants that are screwed directly into the bone. And our only weapon in designing implant placement is their diameter and length.

Most implants are made of titanium, with grade 4 titanium being pure titanium with a titanium oxide coating on the surface, and grade 5 being an alloy of 90% titanium, 4% vanadium, and 6% aluminum. In terms of hardness, grade 4 titanium is about 12 times harder than hydroxyapatite, the primary tooth material, and grade 5 titanium is 12 times harder than grade 4 titanium.

As can be seen in the image, the external and internal differences between implants, their shape, and their mechanism are completely different.