Fusing of Mini-Dental Implants into the Jawbone


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Mini-dental implants are designed to provide stability to dentures, particularly for people who might not be suited to the standard dental implant procedure. Essential to this role is a fusion between the titanium material of the implant and the jawbone, and in this article we look at how mini-dental implants are thought to fuse with the jawbone.

Fusing implants to the jawbone

Mini-dental implants can be placed into the jawbone through a carefully drilled hole into the bone. These allow for the almost complete immersion of each implant, with only the head to which dentures would be attached sticking out. Within each drilled socket, the dental implant is in close contact with the bone it needs to fuse to.


Over a period of several weeks the surface of the titanium implant will fuse with the jawbone to form one solid structure. This can withstand a great deal of force, more so than an implant merely inserted into the jawbone, and hence confers stability and strength to any dentures fitted to the mini-implant.

Osseointegration is a phenomenon that is not limited to dental implants, and is in fact an important basis for the success of other replacement surgeries. Hip and knee replacements are common examples of instances where a titanium implant is fused to the bone for a successful prosthetic attachment.

This fusion process is also referred to as osseointegration, the name of a process which while vital to any and all procedures involving the replacement of biological material with a titanium implant, remains poorly understood.

After an implant has successfully integrated with the bone, it can’t be removed as the boundary between the two materials is virtually indistinguishable. While the mechanism of osseointegration has yet to be understood, there are theories which may explain how the process occurs.

One such theory suggests that it is titanium oxide on the surface of the implant that undergoes a chemical reaction with the organic material it is in close contact with, forming a tight bone. Another popular explanation describes a process called fibro-osseous integration, which entails the generation of a fibrous linkage between the bone and titanium implant. This latter theory is supported by evidence for the presence of fibres at the boundary between bone and implant.

In truth this is an area that still requires a great deal of study to determine how it is that a metallic object can become so completely integrated into biological material. Regardless of the how it happens however, osseointegration is a phenomenon which is routinely exploited in medicine in dentistry. Without the remarkable union of implant and bone, the stability and comfort mini-dental implants can confer to standard dentures would not be possible.

As our understanding of the process itself improves, it may be possible to develop new implant technologies that exploit osseointegration further for even more remarkable results.

Why Do Mini-Dental Implants Need to Fuse with the Jawbone?

While effective tools, dentures and other prosthetic teeth are subject to some restrictions which leave them lacking in some respects. A fortunate solution to these limitations has been devised through the invention of dental implants, titanium insertions which can provide stability to dentures, and thereby address issues of discomfort and limitations these artificial teeth would otherwise impose on a person’s diet.

Implants have evolved in leaps and bounds since their invention, and currently one of the most effective and popular forms of the technology is the mini-dental implant. Mini-dental implants can provide users with a number of distinct benefits and advantages, one of which is the remarkable stability implant technologies can confer to artificial teeth like dentures. Key to this is a process by which implants fuse with the jaw, forming a stable fixture strong enough to support artificial teeth. In this article we look at why mini-dental implants would need to fuse with the jawbone to achieve their purpose.

The need for a fusion of mini-implants with the jawbone

As mentioned above, mini-implants need to fuse with the jawbone to provide the stability for which they are designed and employed. Each implant is inserted into a specially drilled socket in the jawbone and left to fuse.

This step is necessary to provide the firm and stable base needed to support artificial teeth like dentures. Without the fusion of implant to bone, implants would not be able to perform their function as well as they do.

This fusion allows each implant to mimic the natural roots which would normally supply teeth with strength, support, and stability. These roots play a vital role in distributing forces experienced by our teeth throughout the jaw, and in stimulating the jawbone to keep it dense and strong.

By acting as artificial roots, mini-implants can achieve their remarkable effects and make a massive difference to the lives of people using dentures and other dental prosthetics. The benefits offered include  access to more foods as the improved stability conferred by these implants means that artificial teeth are better suited to chewing and biting tougher foods.

The actions of implants after fusing with the jawbone also promote the regeneration of jawbone that has suffered resorption after tooth loss. Our teeth and their roots are actually part of a complex system that maintains the density and strength of the jaw. When we bite and chew with our teeth, we are transmitting a signal down through the roots and to the bone beneath which indicates that the bone is being used. Once this signal has been removed after teeth have been lost, the jawbone is subject to resorption, a process by which the body harvests what it considers unnecessary bone for use elsewhere.

Because of the fusion of the mini-implant to the jawbone and its actions as an artificial root, the stimulation the jawbone needs is restored, and if a person has suffered from a resorption of the bone this can be reversed over time and regular use for better overall health and jaw function.

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