Today in Toronto, dental implants are commonly requested by patients and recommended by dentists. This wide popularity can be attributed largely to the work of two professionals: Per-Ingmar Branemark, a pioneer in the field who began studies on dental implants in Sweden the 1950s and Georg Zarb, who brought the practice to Toronto.
As with many pioneers in the field of health and medicine, Branemark did not gain instant recognition for his early studies on using titanium dental implants. While he began his studies in the 1950s, it wasn’t until the 1970s that Branemark attained success rates that professionals considered noteworthy. At that time, more scientists began experiments similar to his and record results systematically. Eventually, a professor at the University of Toronto named George Zarb, who is now recognized as a pioneer in Toronto implant dentistry, gained faith in Branemark’s methods, and sent the first international team to Sweden to be trained in implant placement.
In 1982, Zarb followed up by initiating a conference to which he invited attendees from all the major dental schools in Canada and the United States. Seventy percent of them attended a conference for dentists–Toronto Conference on Osseointegration in Clinical Dentistry. The American Dental Association gave 11 different dental implant systems a coveted seal of approval by the mid 1980s. Since then, Branemark’s findings have gained wide acceptance by North American dentists. Now, dental implants have become a billion-dollar industry with a very high success rate among common procedures in cosmetic dentistry. Toronto and international patients who benefit from implants have Dr. Branemark to thank. Dentists all over North America owe a thank you to Dr. George Zarb for bringing the practice to Toronto and beyond.