Prosthodontics and implants: from xenodontics to biodontics

To date, the restoration, repair, and replacement of lost and damaged teeth used metals and plastics, nonbiological materials. This type of dentistry has been referred to as "xenodontics." This article discusses the progress in developing a tissue-engineered tooth derived from stem cells. The use of biologically derived replacements for lost and missing teeth is called "biodontics." The technical difficulties that dentists had to overcome historically in restoring, replacing, and repairing lost and damaged teeth are reviewed. The inventiveness and creativity of our professional ancestors in using materials available to restore damaged teeth and to make artificial teeth and denture bases are discussed. This section concludes with the introduction of plastics for both the fabrication of prosthetic teeth and denture bases. The history of root implants is introduced, concluding with the use of titanium. This article concludes by noting that, for the most part, dental schools are just beginning to include implants or computer-aided design (CAD) and computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) into the curriculum and that this process should be accelerated to ensure our graduates are fully prepared to practice efficiently and successfully.