When you begin planning for your dental implant procedure, your dentist will provide you with some options for materials to use. You might be overwhelmed with the various materials available to you but you’re dental health adviser will make the choice easy and explain the benefits of choosing each material as well as which options are right for you.
Some patients might also have certain compatibility requirements that make choosing a dental implant material a little bit easier as well. An example would be a patient who’s allergic to a particular kind of metal (in this instance we’ll say titanium) and requires a safer alternative that doesn’t cause an allergic reaction. Other factors that might help determine which material is best for you include style preferences, durability, and overall performance.
In the following article, the staff at All-In-One Dental Innovations seeks to inform patients about two of the more commonly used dental implant materials—titanium and zirconia. Scroll down for more information about these two materials, their benefits, and how you can determine which is best for you.
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The easiest way to compare titanium and zirconia dental implants is to look at both materials’ pros as well as their cons. Below, Authority Dental discusses each for titanium tooth implants to give you a better idea of the material’s durability, life expectancy, and compatibility with your body. It might seem like basic knowledge that both materials, titanium and zirconia, are going to be fairly sturdy but an important factor to look at is whether or not your body responds well to the placement of the implant. Although it is very rare, some patients might be allergic to titanium materials and should opt for zirconia instead. However, titanium still appears to be the most commonly used material and has many respectable traits that you’d benefit from in a dental implant.
Titanium vs. Zirconia Tooth Implants: Which One Is Better Choice?
“Benefits Of Titanium Dental Implants
The benefits of titanium implants are clear — that’s why most implants are made of titanium. Here is a quick look at the pros of titanium dental implants:
- 95% success rate
- Long-lasting (30 years or more)
- Strong and durable yet lightweight
Downsides To Titanium Dental Implants
On the flipside, using titanium for dental implants has potential risks and side effects. These are the main potential problems involved with them:
- Interference with autoimmune disease
- Galvanic toxicity (metal taste, sensation of electrical charge when near other metals, chronic insomnia)
- Allergic reaction to titanium”
On the other side of the spectrum, DDS Lab provides insight into the pros and cons associated with zirconia implants. As mentioned before, zirconia implants are a great alternative material to use for patients who have allergies to titanium but also offer other benefits. Some dental health experts might consider zirconia implant materials to be more compatible with a patient’s body due to their quick healing interaction with their surrounding gum tissue once placed within the jawbone. For more information about zirconia implant benefits and risks, continue reading below.
ZIRCONIA DENTAL IMPLANTS – Pros and Cons
“Pros of Choosing Zirconia Dental Implants
For patients wishing to have dental implants but are concerned about metal-free dentistry, zirconia is the only viable option. This material is completely inert and can be a good choice for people with known metal allergies or sensitivities. Zirconia implants may be more aesthetically pleasing, eliminating the risk of any dark lines around the gum. Originally, they were only available as a one-piece implant, but the introduction of two-piece zirconia implants now allows for abutments to be fully customised, creating the best outcomes. A metal-free zirconia implant could be healthier for gum tissue because this material retains less plaque and calculus than titanium, especially when a one-piece zirconia implant is selected.Cons of Choosing Zirconia Dental Implants
One of the biggest drawbacks of choosing zirconia dental implants is low-temperature degradation as the product ages. This could potentially result in the mechanical properties of the material becoming degraded, reducing the strength, density, and toughness of the material. As yet, there haven’t been many clinical studies into the long-term success of these products. Most of the failures recorded for two-piece dental implants were due to aseptic loosening. Due to the lack of research into two-piece zirconia dental implants, some clinicians may prefer to use one-piece dental implants, but the limitations of these systems needs to be considered.”
So what’s the final verdict? Well, there’s no definitive answer as to whether titanium or zirconia dental implants are better. Each patient can decide which material works best for them by using these pros and cons to make their own conclusion as well as by seeking out expert recommendations from their dentist. Below, Nejad and Stanley Dental Corp. recaps on the perks of both materials and why no one material is better than the other. If you’d like to know more about either titanium or zirconia implants, it’s best to schedule an appointment at your local dental clinic to find out more from a qualified dental health expert rather to make assumptions about what material you think is right for you without the knowledge to back it up. Choosing the right materials for your dental implant is a major part in determining your implant’s success and helping you to enjoy your dental implant for many years to come.
Zirconia Dental Implants Vs. Titanium Implants
“Both titanium and zirconia are very bioinert materials, meaning that they do not cause local inflammation and are not rejected by the body. It is because of this reason that these are the two materials of choice for the abutment portion of the implant system. The abutment is the piece of the implant system that connects the dental crown or the tooth in the mouth to the implant that is in the jawbone. We do not need to use zirconia implants to achieve safe, predictable, and natural-looking restorations. Furthermore, we can avoid many long-term complications associated with using zirconia implants by placing titanium implants using 3D guided surgery. However, there are certain indications where zirconia implants can be used for patients that prefer zirconia over titanium.”
Learn more about titanium or zirconia dental implants by consulting with one of our dental health experts at All-In-One Dental Innovations. You can schedule your next appointment by calling our office at (925) 828-9811!