What are dental implants?

The vast majority of dental implants are made of titanium alloy and are roughly shaped like the root of a tooth. Titanium is used because your body will accept it, meaning it is biologically safe. This means the chance of an allergic reaction is incredibly small.

Common descriptions of implants, which help explain how they work, include “screw-in-teeth”, “metal cylinders”, “metal anchors” or even “wall plugs”. Each of these descriptions is to try to give you an idea of how dental implants work.

The main idea is that a dental implant is meant to be like the root of one of your teeth. In order for this to happen, it has to be strong enough to work in your mouth and allow the dentist to be able to attach a tooth or teeth to it.

Dental implants need to be inserted into enough jaw to support it, just as your tooth would have been. So being roughly the same shape as your tooth roots enables this to happen.

Most people, when they talk about dental implants are actually talking about the teeth attached to implants. The implants themselves are generally hidden beneath or at gum level.