As the rest of the baby boomer generation reaches its golden years, they may leave behind something valuable that has been a part of their life since infancy: their teeth. Though tooth replacement previously meant getting bridges or learning to live with dentures, if the majority of their teeth had failed or were near failure, innovations in dental implanting are giving boomers even more reasons to smile.
But aren’t dental implants made of metal? And doesn’t metal rust? So how can dental implants be a long-term solution if they could just rust away like any other metal?
Find out if dental implants are actually prone to rusting, what the chances of it happening to you are and what you can do to avoid it.
It’s Rare, But Not Out of the Question
You can expect to get about 15 years out of your dental implants, though making the decision to get them as soon as they’re recommended, and then practicing consistency in care, can push their life span well beyond a decade and a half.
But if you live long enough, your dental implants will eventually require restoration work.
Dental implants are resistant to rust, but not invulnerable to it. Reactions between the jawbone, the metal implant and saliva can generate tiny pulses of electricity that can, over a long period of time, begin to corrode dental implants. Yet, only a small fraction of dental implant patients need restorations due to rust and corrosion.
More studies are taking deeper looks into the hard percentages of people who encounter any degree of rust on their titanium implants. The scope of these studies isn’t limited to dental implants. They’re also looking at vulnerabilities to rust in other common applications of titanium in the human body, from hip and knee replacements to repairs for broken bones.
Find a Dentist with Plenty of Experience in Implanting
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