Evolution of Dental Implant Shapes and Today’s Custom Root Analogue Implants

Abstract

Native tooth has a unique design to serve perfect stomatognathic function and esthetics which could never be replaced with another material or apparatus if it is lost. Over the past few decades, screw-type endosseous implants have been considered to be as the gold standard for the rehabilitation of edentulism owing to the similarity with the anatomical root shape and location inside the alveolar bone. They have been widely investigated so as to find out the ideal characteristics. Further researches have focused on the cervical region of the dental implant because the maximum stress is pronounced around the implant neck. The ideal characteristics indicate that a wide implant neck for better stress distribution, and a large surface area with a minimal thread geometry for a better long term crestal bone stability. Along with the growing clinical knowledge and digital technology, an innovative and noteworthy approach for implant dentistry, custom root analogue implant (RAI), has evolved. With the computer aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) methods, original and optimized characteristics could be transferred to the custom dental implants just as performing an original root replacement.