What is a Dental Implant Made Of?

“Hello everyone, Dr. Robert Stanley, Smile Engineer, here. Today, I want to talk to you about something that really is close to my heart which is, ‘what is a dental implant made out of?’

So, most dental implants are made out of titanium. But what most people don’t realize is that titanium comes in different grades. So, we have commercially pure grades 1, 2, 3, and 4. Then we have something called the alloys. In the alloys, we have something called alloy-23 and that is medical-grade titanium.

When we select a dental implant, and if you’re looking for a dental implant, one of the questions you’d want to ask your provider is, “what is the implant made of?” And when they say, “titanium,” which is what most are made of, then say, “what type of titanium?” You need to figure this out and here’s why. Grade one titanium is 66% weaker than the grade 23 titanium that we talked about. CP, commercially pure, grade one, is 66% weaker than grade-23 alloy.

In our office, we don’t use CP1. We don’t use CP2, 3, or 4. All of those commercially pure titanium’s are weak. They’re just not strong enough. We use medical-grade, German titanium and that has an alloy and it’s extremely strong. How does that matter to you? Why does that matter? Well, if we put the dental implant in and it’s made out of a softer metal, it might fail, over a period of time with use. So, it’s just like a coat hanger. If you have a coat hanger and you bend that coat hanger back and forth, you can eventually break it in half. Well, if the coat hanger was made out of a stronger metal, it would take longer before you’d get that coat hanger to break in half. So, in our office, we don’t ever want to have an implant break. We use the strongest metal that we can, grade 23 titanium.”

Are grade 23 titanium implants safe?

You may be thinking “grade 23 titanium implants are strong…but are they safe?” The answer is a resounding “yes”! Grade 23 titanium is medical-grade which means the FDA has approved it for use in medical devices, including orthopedic pins and screws, surgical staples, joint replacements, and, of course, dental implants. It is 100% safe and will not cause any ill side-effects. Some patients find the thought of having titanium in their body a little unnerving but it’s truly the best substance for mimicking bone or tooth. It’s incredibly long-lasting and strong. Once it’s placed and healed, you’ll most likely never have to think about it again!

Thinking about getting dental implants?

Suffering from missing teeth and looking for a real solution? Dental implants may be the answer. Call our office at (919) 460-9665 to set up a complimentary consultation today!