The electrifying aspect of titanium dental implants

It’s unlikely that if you popped a light bulb socket into your mouth that it would light up, but did you realize that your teeth may actually be conducting enough electrical current to short circuit your brain?

Teeth that have been treated, repaired or replaced using any type of metal alloy contain all the necessary ingredients to create an environment akin to a charged battery … in your mouth. Titanium or metal implants are one of the types of dental repairs that can create what is called ‘oral galvanism’ or ‘the battery effect’ in the mouth.

How it works

As it turns out creating a battery is a fairly simple process of immersing two or more different metals into a liquid (in this case, saliva) and they automatically conduct electricity. Saliva acts as and is an excellent ‘electrolyte’, while metal dental implants provide the dissimilar metals to make the magic happen. An electrical current is generated when metal ions from the dental metals are conveyed into saliva. This phenomenon is called “oral galvanism,” which literally means that this unique oral environment acts like a miniature electrical generator producing measurable electric currents in the mouth.

Oral galvanic toxicity, as it is known, creates several major complications to the human body, including:

• The action of electrical currents in the mouth increases the rate at which metal implants are corroded, including titanium based dental implants. The ions that are released react with the organs of the body, leading to increased sensitivity, an inclination towards inflammation and potentially autoimmune disorders.
• As a person’s sensitivity increases through oral galvanism the likelihood of damage to the soft tissue of the mouth can occur. An increased rate of corrosion increases the chance of developing immunologic or toxic reactions to metals.
• The process of oral galvanism also disrupts normal electrical currents flowing into brain tissue and can disrupt the natural electrical current in the brain.

Titanium is NOT Biocompatible

Through the process of oral galvanism titanium implants release metal ions into the mouth and jaw bone constantly. This type of chronic exposure may very likely trigger inflammation, allergies and autoimmune disease in susceptible individuals and slowly weaken the immune system is healthy adults.

With an increase in people receiving titanium dental implants these days, cases of intolerance to these types of oral repairs is on the rise. A recent study that followed 56 patients who developed severe health problems after receiving titanium-based dental implants described medical problems including muscle, joint and nerve pain, chronic fatigue syndrome, neurological problems, depression as well as skin rashes and inflammation.

When intolerance occurs the most logical treatment is to have the metal implant removed and/or replaced with a more biocompatible and bioinert material such as a ceramic implant. Patients who have had metal implants replaced have reduced metal sensitivity overall and report long-term health improvement in the majority of cases.

Oral Galvanism and Ceramic Dental Implants

Ceramic dental implants have proven to be highly biocompatible to the human body and due  to their poor electrical conductivity they do not exhibit ion release (or galvanism) when compared to metallic implants. Studies have shown that the way an implant is integrated into the surrounding bone (osseointegration), whether it is made of ceramic or titanium is very similar. But ceramic implants have a comparable, if not greater rate of performance and durability, making them an excellent alternative to titanium implants.

Considering that titanium dental implants can provoke metal sensitivity, inflammation, autoimmune disorders (among other things), while ceramic dental implants are completely metal-free while providing increased durability and a higher level of aesthetics, there is no logical reason for the average person to consider anything other than a biocompatible alternative; ceramic dental implants.

Resources:

Be Very Careful When Replacing Teeth http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/08/08/Be-VERY-Careful-When-Replacing-Missing-Teeth.aspx
Z-Systems – For a Healthy Bright Smile http://www.z-systems.biz/en/7349/patients.html
Electromagnetic Biology and Medicine, 25: 349–360, 2006
Labome.com — Intraoral electrogalvanism – http://www.labome.org/topics/dentistry/intraoral-electrogalvanism-17918.html