Advances in dentistry within the last decade or so have generated incredible technological developments. Dental implants have grown to be the treatment of choice to displace lost or missing teeth, and when done under proper surgical technique, success rates have surpassed 95%. When the concept of osseointegration or fusing titanium with bone was introduced to the dental community in the first 60s by an orthopedic surgeon known as P.I. Branemark, the application of the concept was adapted to dental use; implementing the process, however, right into a dental setting was viewed as risky and unpredictable. Success rates at this point in time rarely approached 55-60%, and many clinicians felt that their introduction right into a patient's treatment plan may be too premature for predictable success of a specific prosthesis. To boost success rates, alterations in the style of the dental implant surface were introduced most without sound, clinical evidence to back-up manufacturer's claims of improved success rates. Through years of empirical experimentation, a titanium dental implant was developed that looked much that way of a natural tooth root.
Some 40 years later, technology within the dental implant field has facilitated their colloquial use among general dentists and specialists. When the market for implant dentistry exploded not greater than a decade ago Dental Implants in Los Angeles, many implant manufacturers decided to alter the topographical surface of the implant fixture with unsubstantiated claims of improved success rates to win market share on the major implant companies that currently hold 85-95% of US dental implant sales.
Unfortunately, there is a massive level of poorly written research that's being introduced in to the dental literature with false claims of improved success rates. In lots of instances, implant manufacturers have made changes to the design of the implant because of improved success rates seen with a competitor implant that has the correct research and clinical documentation. With the dental implant industry growing each year, this problem won't cease to exist.
As a potential implant candidate, there are numerous things you have to know about any of it industry just before continuing with treatment:
FACT: Doctors do not require formal surgical training on humans to position dental implants.
In fact, one implant manufacturer specifically holds educational seminars for doctors wanting to position dental implants on the course of an individual weekend. That's right, in only 2 days, doctors are given a medical training certificate which states they have formal training in surgical implant dentistry and therefore may place dental implants in an individual subject. Unfortunately, the course doesn't train these doctors on human subjects, rather, on plastic jawbones.
FACT: The US government does not require FDA approval for a dental implant fixture to be marketed to the professional community.
The US government includes a governing body that oversees biomedical devices and their potential implementation into the medical and dental community. If, like, a dental implant meets certain criteria required for surgical placement into the human body predicated on prior submissions by other manufacturers which may have tested the device, then a governing body will grant 510K clearance to the implant manufacturer. 510K clearance allows dental implant manufacturers (and other biomedical device manufacturers) to market their device without the need for prior animal or human testing! If another biomedical device has been previously introduced with similar intent, then a literature for the original product can be utilized to formalize 510K clearance.
FACT: So many implants, so short amount of time
Your competition for the dental implant market is fierce, and after patents have expired on tested devices which can be ideal for human use, some implant manufacturers will duplicate the style of these devices. Implant manufacturers seeking an area in the competitive dental implant market will copy the look of an implant that's an expired patent, save for a minor change here and there. These implants are known as clones and are marketed to dentists at a dramatically reduced fee. Generally in most instances, these implant clones have absolutely NO clinical documentation to substantiate their manufacturer's claims. In reality, these companies use literature supplied by the implant manufacturer from whom they are copying!
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