Sapphires’ New Facet Is in Dental Implants

Dentists and dental lab technicians in the United States have been slow to accept them, but sapphire stems to hold replacement teeth are favored over metal implants, oral surgeons say.

Sapphires, a gem usually found in expensive jewelry and more recently used in microchips, is ideal for use as a dental implant, said Dr. Francis Howell, chairman of oral medicine at the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla.

The colorless, man-made sapphires are chemically identical to the natural gems. They are more tolerant to mouth tissue and transmit hot and cold sensations at about the same degree as a tooth would to the nerves in a bone, Howell said.

95% Success Rate Cited

Results of a five-year study showing that the synthetic sapphire is successful in almost 95% of the cases examined were discussed at an international meeting of oral implantologists recently in San Diego.

The implant operation using synthetic sapphire costs about the same, $400 to $500, as one unit of bridgework, Howell said.

The operation involves a thin sapphire post or stem, measuring about a one-quarter of an inch, being screwed or wedged into a socket into the jawbone where cracked or decayed teeth once were.

Researchers found that within a few weeks, the gum grows around the sapphire post that acts as a support for a crown, which is added later to complete the replacement of a tooth.

“The (sapphire) material presents a surface to permit lining cells of the mouth to come up to it and form a direct attachment,” Howell said.

Within a few months, Howell said, the jawbone also grows around and develops an affinity for the sapphire.