More indications
Immediate loading and accelerated loading protocols become more practical with this implant, Meltzer says, while it also works well with grafted sites.
In areas like the anterior region, he also anticipates that esthetics will improve because of the more complex architecture and the ability to hold bone.
“You have increased confidence in placing implants in poorer quality bone, increased confidence in placing implants in extraction sockets and increased confidence in placing implants in limited quantity of bone,” Meltzer says. “From the patient’s perspective, you have faster treatment and less procedures. In many cases it means less steps in treatment, and that passes on to the patient as a reduced cost.”
Astra Tech’s (www.astratech.com) OsseoSpeed implant also benefits from nano technology and exhibits qualities very similar to the NanoTite, from enhanced outcomes to added indications.
This implant uses nano technology to optimally express the bone proteins needed for formation, creating a topography that allows bone cells to achieve a position on the implant surface, says Dr. Clark Stanford, the Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Clinical Research Center at the College of Dentistry, University of Iowa. He uses the implant regularly and was involved in clinical trials.
“All actions are occurring because the surface is being altered at the nano level,” Stanford says of the implant’s benefits, which range from increased clinician confidence to more case acceptance. “At that dimension, bone proteins and cells are being changed in terms of structure. You only get that when you are at the nano level. If you’re not at the nano level, it’s not going to have the same impact.”
The market
And these advancements are influencing the implant market, Millennium Research Group (www.mrg.net) Dental Industry Analyst Chris Shutsa says. As the word “nano” generates more interest and big industry players continue to come out with implants that have surface treatments incorporating nano technology, the trend will only continue.
As patients and clinicians see the benefits, demand will increase, and Shutsa says the market will continue to expand. He expects manufacturers to continue to support the technology with clinical research and for more and more manufacturers to introduce nano implants to the market.
“As more information reporting the success becomes available, the dentists themselves will be all the more excited to incorporate it and all the more trusting that the benefits discussed are in fact real,” Shutsa says.
Implants of the future
Drs. Meltzer and Stanford agree that nano technology has not reached its full potential when it comes to implants. There are plenty of possibilities—from more soft tissue attachment stability, to drug delivery, to nano molecules that have specific jobs and are sent on specific missions.
It is also important to remember that “nano” has become quite the buzzword in the dental industry and beyond, so do your homework to ensure the products you buy have the research to back the marketing claims.
“Readers need to be able to separate when a company has marketing that seems like hype, because some times it is hype and some times it is research based,” Stanford says. “It’s really important that whatever product dentists choose, they make sure it does have high-quality research behind it so they’re not doing research for that company on their patients.”
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