IMPLANTS: WHAT ARE THEY MADE OF?

Titanium implant VS. Zirconia implants

A few days ago, a woman came to see me because one of her premolars was shattered, thus we let her know that the easiest treatment was removing the broken dental piece and placing a titanium implant.

The patient alleged that she preferred a zirconia implant rather than a titanium one, since she was allergic to metal and she had been searching the Internet looking for the best alternative. This situation made me think about a very common problem, which is a misunderstanding of the information provided.

I do like informed patients because they make my work much easier, but it is very important to distinguish between searching for information on the Internet and having a proper criterion for the selection of the best treatment. I always explain to my patients that dentistry is not like maths, since there is not a unique procedure to treat every patient, as well as we cannot guarantee if a certain treatment would be 100% safe – for these reasons, scientific evidence is the only thing that guide our decisions. I quite understand my patient’s concern about a possible allergic reaction, nobody would like to experience something like that. However, scientific evidence shows that titanium has been proven biocompatible, i.e. it does not produce damage in our organism and has little chance to trigger an allergic reaction (Hosoki M et al Allergic contac dermatitis caused by titanium screws and dental implants. J Prosthodondt Res. 2016 Julio; 60 (3): 213-9).

It is important to be aware of those factors that may affect the patient’s health (intolerances, allergies…), but multiple scientific evidence prove that titanium implants are completely safe. Nevertheless, the same scientific evidence does not make clear whether a zirconia implant is as safe as a titanium one.

Due to all these factors, I decided to recommend her a titanium implant because of the low probability of experiencing an allergic reaction and its high success rate, in contrast to the information reported in cases of zirconia implants.

I am not saying that I don’t recommend zirconia implants, but I should like to clarify that patients should be cautious and document all the information gathered. That’s the difference between obtaining information without any criteria and following the experts’ recommendations.