THE problem of how to replace teeth throughout history has spawned many inventive replacement ideas.
The ancient Chinese tried bamboo in 2000 BC, the Mayans opted to hammer seashells into their jawbones around 600 AD and by the 1600s we had taken to paying poor people to part with their teeth.
Now we use the more palatable metal titanium, the same material that's used in the space shuttle.
Thankfully for the 74 per cent of UK adults who have lost a tooth, the body accepts titanium much better than bits of shell.
Every year there are 130,000 dental implants placed in the UK. People have implants done for many different reasons.
The obvious one is to fill a great big gap in the smile, but more pressing reasons are felt by the 21 per cent of adults who have considerable difficulty eating - that's one in five people in a restaurant choosing soft foods just because of the state of their teeth.
Implants can be a big investment in terms of someone's purse and time, so they need to last. It's what happens after the treatment is complete that has a big impact to their durability.
One big misbelief is that dental implants are delicate long-term, and people don't want to 'harm' the implant by going near it and disturbing something.
But it is totally the other way around - after an implant has been joined to the restoration, they love being cleaned.
In fact, the more they are cleaned the longer they last. Implants are strong - 95.4 per cent last 10 years or more.
The key to making them last is to love your implant and spend a bit of extra time taking care of them.
A good electric toothbrush will clean the plaque from the gum that surrounds the implant - just go for it.
They need cleaned as much or more than normal teeth. A water jet (a micro power hose for your mouth) will blast away food debris from the implant. This disturbs the bad bacteria and prevents them eating the bone that supports your implant, making them last years longer.
Just as important is a healthy diet - one low in sugars and processed foods and high in natural products and bacteria for long-term implant and bone health.
