Dental Implant Question

[mi26]

Are titanium dental implants safe in the body long-term? This is something that worries me before getting the procedure done...

Also, if I'm 30 can I expect a dental implant to last a lifetime?

 

[drm]

Medical grade titanium is used in quite a few applications including dental implants. These types of implants have been used for many many years without problem. There haven't been any reputable scientific studies to date showing any type of harm associated with them.

We don't have enough long term data to know if implants will actually last a lifetime (they've really only been in use for about 40 years). We do know that if you take good care of them they have the potential to last a lot longer on average than the alternatives such as a bridge or partial denture. Dental implants do fail occasionally but a lot of this is based on your specific situation (location, bone type, smoking, teeth grinding, certain health problems, flossing, etc).

Hope this helps!