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Introduction
(continued)
Like Jon,
millions of Americans have lost a tooth to injury or disease. And like
the college student, many conclude there is no way to return to the
state of wholeness they once enjoyed: able to eat any food that appealed
to them, unimpeded in their speech, unselfconscious about their
appearance, quick to smile.
In this belief,
they are mistaken.
Over the past
35 years, Ive helped literally thousands of individuals from every walk
of life to recover from the disaster of tooth loss. The technological
breakthrough that has enabled me and other dentists to do this is the
modern dental implant (Figure 0.1)
.jpg)
Figure 0.1
A dental
implant is a small metal post that serves as a substitute for a natural
tooth root. Inserted surgically into the jawbone, it provides a stable
base upon which an artificial tooth can be anchored. The basic concept
is so simple that it occurred to people thousands of years ago. Some
even fashioned primitive implants that worked. By the time I entered
dental school in 1958, more sophisticated experiments were taking place,
but implant dentistry remained a fringe activity. I completed my
residency in oral surgery and served in the U.S. Navy for three years,
including a two-year post in Taiwan. When I returned to enter private
practice in the Cleveland area in 1968, I found that more and more
articles about implants were showing up in dental trade publications.
I was
skeptical. As I scrutinized these reports, I noted with disdain that
none appeared to present any scientific evidence that implants could be
depended upon to serve patients for years. Implants were a dangerous
fad, I suspected, reminiscent of cruder and more primitive times. Then I
had a brainstorm. A medical colleague of mine at Mt. Sinai Medical
Center in Cleveland, where I was on the teaching faculty, was using
animals for his research on the relationship between high blood pressure
and kidney failure. I asked if he might allow me to replace some of the
animals broken down teeth with implants and study the impact of the
implants on the hard and soft tissues of the jaw. My hypothesis was
simple: the implants would soon fall out.
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