do non-metal dental implants exist?

[u2ecila]

Hi,
I am going to the dentist next week, but I was just wondering if anyone could give me the heads up on what to expect.

Need to get an implant on my top front tooth, but I have severe metal allergies. I'd rather have something permanent instead of a bridge. Any ideas or suggestions?



thanks,
u2ecila

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[UBTom]

Hi there,

Most implants in use these days are made of commercially-pure titanium or some titanium alloy.

The nice thing about titanium is that it is an inert metal which is biocompatible. There might be one or two people out of a few million who get a reaction from titanium, but that would be extremely rare. I don't think I've ever heard of a documented case of a person having an immune response against titanium, but I'll ask my perio instructor and see what she says.

You might want to discuss this issue further with your dentist. But I agree that an implant (if the patient is suitable) would be a better solution than a bridge, where you have to grind down two teeth (compromising their integrity) to replace just one.

Good luck!

 

[steiner19er]

Most people, if they have alergic reactions to a dental metal its Nickel. Implants are never made of nickel, although it is found in partial denture frameworks, and substructure under ceramic crowns. You shouldn;t have a problem getting an implant. However, make sure your DDS knows that you have a metal allergy, b.c on top of the implant they have to put a crown, make sure it is made of high-noble metal substructure or Gold.

 

[DrJeff]

A number of years ago, atleast 1 company (not quite sure of their name) actually made a ceramic substrate implant. The only way that I'm aware of this is that about a year and a half ago a patient came into the office stating that they didn't like their esthetics of the crown on their implant as they pointed to #7 (the hue moderately off). When I had my assistant develop the PA of the area, I noticed that the implant body looked semi-translucent on the PA, instead of very radio opaque as they noramally look. I asked where the patient had the implant done since they had just recently moved into the area and then contacted their former dentist. That was when I found out that it was a ceramic substrate implant that was discontinued due to a moderately high implant body fracture rate

With the surgical grade titanium that makes up todays implants the risk of allergic reaction is extremely low. The biggest allergy risk would come with the final components of the crown and the abutment (The piece that is inserted into the implant that the crown is cemented to) These though can be made out of an all ceramic substrate to avoid any potential metal allergy.