How Does Osseointegration Work?
February 13, 2025
Ever wonder why dental implants in North Charleston, SC outperform other tooth replacement methods by a wide margin? The primary cause for this is osseointegration. It is a process whereby your jawbone and the titanium implant develop a structural bond. Dental implants are considerably superior than conventional tooth replacement solutions because they replicate the strength and functionality of a natural tooth and are directly attached to your jawbone.
Osseointegration in Dental Implants
Discovery of Osseointegration
Per-Ingvar Brnemark, a Swedish researcher studying the blood flow in rabbit bones using titanium implant chambers, made the accidental discovery of osseointegration in 1952. When the time came to remove the titanium chambers after the study, Brnemark could not do so because they had bonded with the bone. Today, we have a much better knowledge of how this phenomenon functions now that scientists have had time to research it.
Hemostasis
When a hole is made in the implant site and the titanium post is brought into contact with the jawbone, osseointegration begins. Blood vessels will burst when the location is drilled, resulting in some bleeding and swelling, a natural reaction for the area to start healing. A few minutes later, ions and serum proteins leaking from the blood arteries will cling to the titanium implant’s surface.
Proliferation
A few days following surgery, fibroblasts, a kind of connective tissue cell, enter the wound and begin to produce collagen and other fibers. This promotes the development of perivascular cells, a class of stem cells in the body’s blood arteries.
New blood vessels are subsequently created and incorporated into the pre-existing vascular network. Once the oxygen flow has been restored, bone repair can start. Large multinucleate bone cells called osteoclasts begin removing bone tissue around a week after surgery, which is an essential step in recovery.
Remodeling
The new bone structure will remodel itself several weeks following surgery, making it particularly reactive to occlusal stresses. This typically manifests as bone structures joining at an angle to the titanium post. As the months go by, lamellar bone structure, a parallel collagen alignment akin to the design of pillars in a vast church, starts to form. The implanted tooth can operate thanks to the solid lamellar bone structure creation.
Learn More About Dental Implants in North Charleston, SC
Get a hold of our professionals at North Rivers Dental if you’re interested in getting dental implants!