Titanium in Dentistry

Abstract

Titanium has received a great deal of attention from dental researchers and clinicians. In the United States, the history of the application of titanium as a biomaterial started as early as 1940 when experiments with titanium implants were done using laboratory animals. It appears that in 1959, two American researchers were the first to suggest casting titanium to fabricate implant posts. The use of cast titanium for dental prostheses in the U.S. was first reported in 1977. The present survey revealed that during the last decade, the number of research projects on the applications of titanium to dentistry that were presented at annual IADR/AADR meetings has steadily increased. The majority of these presentations have been made by American researchers, and 59% of these were related to dental implantology. The numbers of reports on casting and prosthodontic applications have steadily increased, but they are still more limited. The purpose of this review was to provide information on the development and the current status of research on titanium in dentistry in the U.S.