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I lost one of my front teeth and now have a titanium bolt threaded into the tooth socket, with a ceramic tooth screwed into the titanium bolt. https://en.wikip

I lost one of my front teeth and now have a titanium bolt threaded into the tooth socket, with a ceramic tooth screwed into the titanium bolt. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_implant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dental_implant There was a CT scan of my mouth, and then a bolt was selected and a ceramic tooth created that would accurately fill the gap. It works just like a real tooth, except it is slightly chunkier (but it's chunkier in the direction that points inside my mouth, so I'm the only person who can tell). It felt pretty high-tech to me, although the article mentions that the first titanium dental implant was placed in 1965.

suryamp 9y ago
can you use MRI machines?
- jstanley 9y ago
  I believe so, yes.
  - CognitiveLens 9y ago
    Probably not, actually - I have a similar thing and was told that although the MRI machine won't rip the metal out of your jaw like it would for ferrous metals, the titanium will essentially act like a little antenna and obliterate the image
    - cperciva 9y ago
      I have a titanium implant and have had MRIs. It might be a problem if you wanted an MRI of your teeth, but anything else is fine.
ricardobeat 9y ago
Apparently implants have been made for over 100 years, even before titanium was 'discovered' in the 60s. The best bet we have to replace that are root-analogue implants [1] - essentially a physical 3D-printed copy of the whole tooth, including roots. Unfortunately information is scarce (as you can see in that wikipedia page), it's not even mentioned in the main 'Dental implant' article. There is a single dentist in the entire world [2] actively offering these implants, and going at it for 20 years. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_analogue_dental_implant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_analogue_dental_implant [2] http://www.bioimplant.at http://www.bioimplant.at
- fractallyte 9y ago
  I worked at BioImplant in Vienna. We tried very hard to get even one sentence into the Wikipedia article, to no avail. The editors insist on secondary sources of information (articles in magazines or newspapers), which apparently must be in English. Sadly, all news pieces so far have been in German. We were equally unsuccessful in raising interest among popular science journalists.
  - gbuk2013 9y ago
    As per my reply to the parent comment, thank you for sharing! Here's one paper I found while reading around about the technology (no idea what sort of credibility JOADMS has): http://www.joadms.org/download/article/149/19102016_27/1476283691.pdf http://www.joadms.org/download/article/149/19102016_27/14762...
  - cclements 9y ago
    Mind if I ask how much these cost? I've been wanting to get my whole lower replaced due to significant wear and this would be a great excuse for a trip to Vienna.
    - fractallyte 9y ago
      The upfront cost is comparable to that of a (reputable) regular implant; a few years ago, in my case, this was in the region of €1800-2000. Then, after a 12 week healing period, you need a crown, which is a separate cost (and usually dealt with by your local dentist). However, you also have to factor in the long-term cost: there are no surgical complications, and no follow-up treatments to deal with infection, as would typically be the case with typical screw-type implant. This is a huge win. Also note: BioImplant is currently a single tooth replacement, so it's not possible to get a row of adjacent implants. (At least, not yet - I understand this is more an issue of research than practicability.) Make sure you go through the FAQ on the website! (http://www.bioimplant.at/faq-2/ http://www.bioimplant.at/faq-2/)
  - aesh2Xa1 9y ago
    There's really no information about this group or their product. What little I did find seemed to indicate it's a scam or at least not very vetted. Can you contradict this with some good information?
fractallyte 9y ago
Do you have any details of the implant manufacturer? I'm curious because this sounds rather like an 'anatomic' implant; the world leader in this technology is this small (but awesome) company in Austria: http://bioimplant.at http://bioimplant.at
- jstanley 9y ago
  I don't think it's the same as that. Here's an X-Ray of the titanium bolt: https://img.jes.xxx/594 https://img.jes.xxx/594 And here's a temporary plastic tooth that I had installed while the ceramic one was being manufactured: https://img.jes.xxx/741 https://img.jes.xxx/741 The inner screw has a small torx head on it and is threaded up the inside of the larger bolt that is tapped directly into the bone of my jaw.

suryamp 9y ago

can you use MRI machines?

jstanley 9y ago
I believe so, yes.
- CognitiveLens 9y ago
  Probably not, actually - I have a similar thing and was told that although the MRI machine won't rip the metal out of your jaw like it would for ferrous metals, the titanium will essentially act like a little antenna and obliterate the image
  - cperciva 9y ago
    I have a titanium implant and have had MRIs. It might be a problem if you wanted an MRI of your teeth, but anything else is fine.

ricardobeat 9y ago

Apparently implants have been made for over 100 years, even before titanium was 'discovered' in the 60s. The best bet we have to replace that are root-analogue implants [1] - essentially a physical 3D-printed copy of the whole tooth, including roots. Unfortunately information is scarce (as you can see in that wikipedia page), it's not even mentioned in the main 'Dental implant' article. There is a single dentist in the entire world [2] actively offering these implants, and going at it for 20 years. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_analogue_dental_implant https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Root_analogue_dental_implant [2] http://www.bioimplant.at http://www.bioimplant.at

fractallyte 9y ago
I worked at BioImplant in Vienna. We tried very hard to get even one sentence into the Wikipedia article, to no avail. The editors insist on secondary sources of information (articles in magazines or newspapers), which apparently must be in English. Sadly, all news pieces so far have been in German. We were equally unsuccessful in raising interest among popular science journalists.
- gbuk2013 9y ago
  As per my reply to the parent comment, thank you for sharing! Here's one paper I found while reading around about the technology (no idea what sort of credibility JOADMS has): http://www.joadms.org/download/article/149/19102016_27/1476283691.pdf http://www.joadms.org/download/article/149/19102016_27/14762...
- cclements 9y ago
  Mind if I ask how much these cost? I've been wanting to get my whole lower replaced due to significant wear and this would be a great excuse for a trip to Vienna.
  - fractallyte 9y ago
    The upfront cost is comparable to that of a (reputable) regular implant; a few years ago, in my case, this was in the region of €1800-2000. Then, after a 12 week healing period, you need a crown, which is a separate cost (and usually dealt with by your local dentist). However, you also have to factor in the long-term cost: there are no surgical complications, and no follow-up treatments to deal with infection, as would typically be the case with typical screw-type implant. This is a huge win. Also note: BioImplant is currently a single tooth replacement, so it's not possible to get a row of adjacent implants. (At least, not yet - I understand this is more an issue of research than practicability.) Make sure you go through the FAQ on the website! (http://www.bioimplant.at/faq-2/ http://www.bioimplant.at/faq-2/)
- aesh2Xa1 9y ago
  There's really no information about this group or their product. What little I did find seemed to indicate it's a scam or at least not very vetted. Can you contradict this with some good information?

fractallyte 9y ago

Do you have any details of the implant manufacturer? I'm curious because this sounds rather like an 'anatomic' implant; the world leader in this technology is this small (but awesome) company in Austria: http://bioimplant.at http://bioimplant.at

jstanley 9y ago
I don't think it's the same as that. Here's an X-Ray of the titanium bolt: https://img.jes.xxx/594 https://img.jes.xxx/594 And here's a temporary plastic tooth that I had installed while the ceramic one was being manufactured: https://img.jes.xxx/741 https://img.jes.xxx/741 The inner screw has a small torx head on it and is threaded up the inside of the larger bolt that is tapped directly into the bone of my jaw.