With Thanksgiving nearly here, there’s a good chance you’ll travel by plane soon. That situation can get tricky even in the best of times, let alone during the holidays. Still, it may leave you with an especially pressing question this time: Do dental implants set off metal detectors? Your Sachse dentist is here to answer that query, so please don’t worry. Just keep reading to learn about metal detectors and why they don’t detect implant posts.
Note How Metal Detectors Work
Before anything else, you’ll want to brush up on how metal detectors work. Why dental implants don’t affect them won’t make sense otherwise.
In general, metal detectors generate a magnetic field in a series of pulses. Each one of these pulses creates an echo that the machine turns into a reading. That way, a metal detector can register the magnetic field of any metal object passing through it. The object’s field would alter the echo the machine expects, making it larger and longer than usual.
The design of metal detectors makes them especially effective. Even today, these machines can notice metallic watches, phones, laptops, etc.
Implant Posts Go Undetected
While metal detectors work pretty well, dental implants won’t (or at least shouldn’t) set them off. These special posts for your smile go undetected because:
They’re Insulated
Though they have metal bases, dental implants are well-insulated. Their titanium cores are usually shielded beneath a large mixture of porcelain (from your crown) and bone. As a result, a metal detector’s field almost never reaches them.
Of course, not all insulated metals are invisible to metal detectors. Metallic replacement hips will often set off these machines.
They’re Small
Don’t forget that dental implants are exceptionally small. Being tooth-sized, any magnetic field they generate will be relatively tiny. A metal detector will struggle to “pick up” something so minuscule, at least in most cases. The only exceptions would be items like gum wrappers, bits of tinfoil, etc.
They’re Weakly Magnetic
While dental implants do use metal, that metal happens to be titanium. The latter is one of the least magnetic materials around, only barely generating a field at all. The result is that titanium implants almost never get registered by metal detectors. (On the contrary, the metals most likely to be detected are iron, nickel, and steel.)
Given the points above, your dental implants won’t set off metal detectors. That means you can go through airport security worry-free!
About the Practice
Wiese Dental is based in Sachse, TX. Led by the one and only Dr. Robert G. Wiese, our practice is highly committed to comprehensive and cozy dental care. We offer preventive, cosmetic, and even restorative services, all performed in a warm setting and with your smile in mind. You can even trust us to place dental implants entirely in-office! For more details or to book a visit, please contact us on our website or by phone at (972)-992-1340.