Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
dating from about 600 AD. This mandible, which is considered to
be that of a woman in her twenties, had three tooth-shaped pieces
of shell placed into the sockets of three missing lower incisor teeth.
In 1970, a Brazilian dental academic Prof. Amadeo Bobbio studied
the mandible specimen and took a series of radiographs. He noted
compact bone formation around two of the implants, which led him
to conclude that the implants were placed during life [166]. This may
be the first recorded use of dental implants. More to the point, an
iron dental implant in a corpse dated ~ 200 AD was found in Europe.
This implant, too, was described as properly bone integrated [167].
Figure 8.2
Fra Angelico (ca. 1395-1455) “The Healing of Justinian by
Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian” (approx. 1439) is exhibited at
Museo di San Marco, Florence, Italy.
In middle ages, one of the first scientific descriptions of congenital
and acquired defects of the maxilla and their treatments was given
by Ambroise Paré (1510-1590) in his
Dix livres de la chirurgie, avec
le magasin des instrumens necessaires à icelle
in 1564. He specifically
described defects of the palate with bone destruction caused by
arquebus shots, stab wounds or syphilitic gumma, describing also
the accompanying speech deficiency and giving general principles of
treatment. He used a flat, vaulted, metallic plate in gold or silver with
a sponge attached to it. The sponge was introduced into the defect,
where it expanded with readily absorbed nasal and oral secretions,
Search WWH ::
Custom Search