New Method Provided for Stronger Dental Implants.
With more people having dental implants replace missing or bad teeth, one of the complaints is that they are unable to chew food for up to six months, until the implant has become fixated in the bone. However a new first time drug coating that has been tested on humans allows titanium screws to adhere to the bone better and faster. The Linköping researchers behind the method report that the results are good.
The coating, developed at Linköping University in Sweden, consists of a nanometre-thin layer of protein that attaches to the metal surface. Attached to the protein is a drug belonging to the bisphosphonates, usually used to treat osteoporosis. Several animal studies have shown that this method allows the bone surrounding the implant to rapidly become denser and stronger.