JUBILEE. No one has lived as long with titanium screws in their mouth as 95-year-old Olle Bohlin. He was one of the first patients to receive dental implants, and it was Per-Ingvar Brånemark, himself, who provided the treatment.
“He made it possible for me to laugh again. He gave me back my life, and to me, he was like a god.”
In the 1960’s, Olle Bohlin was a successful actor – known for his ability to portray characters. His stage was the Stora Teatern in Gothenburg, where he played a number of major roles. But he was tortured by such severe toothaches that he nearly gave up his passion for the theater.
“I had had major problems with my teeth for many years and all of the bridges I received, simply broke. I had severe stage fright and panicked over possibly not being able to perform my roles,” remembers Olle Bohlin.
Patient number seven
One autumn day in 1967, he read in GT about a unique new method for fastening artificial teeth with titanium fixtures. He immediately grabbed the telephone and made an appointment with Per-Ingvar Brånemark for an examination. He was lucky – he became the seventh patient ever to receive the new treatment.
Margrethe Bohlin, Olle’s wife remembers how they were met with skepticism when they told their friends about the titanium implants:
“Everyone we talked to reacted alike, “What in the world is this, putting screws in your mouth.” But Olle and I knew that it could not be worse than it already was. It could only be better!”
The first step in the treatment was to pull out all of the bad teeth in Olle Bohlin’s mouth.
“I just lay there while all of my teeth were pulled out, one after the other. And maybe it sounds strange, but I was never happier! I completely and thoroughly trusted Per-Ingvar Brånemark,” he explains.
Toothless on stage
The mucosa in the mouth needed time to heal before the fixtures could be screwed into his jaw. At Stora Teatern, the Swedish opening performance of the hit musical the Fiddler on the Roof occurred, starring Olle Bohlin. He hid his toothlessness with false teeth, and despite his fear of spitting the teeth out onto the stage, he succeeded in finishing his numbers.
I have never felt as free as I did when I got my new teeth.
Ten fixtures were fastened in Olle Bohlin’s mouth. He went on vacation while the screws grew attached to his jaw. That autumn, when he returned to the theater, he was a new man.
“It was so fantastic! I have never felt as free as I did when I got my new teeth. I am grateful to Per-Ingvar Brånemark for giving me the opportunity,” says Olle Bohlin.
Brånemark’s discovery – osseointegration
The discovery that titanium can integrate with bone tissue, into what is today called osseointegration, was accidently discovered by Per-Ingvar Brånemark, MD, who also realized the enormous potential of the discovery. As a professor of anatomy at the University of Gothenburg, he created broad collaborations to develop the method. Under Brånemark’s supervision, doctors, dentists and biologists worked together to study the interaction between bone and titanium. They carefully developed methodical techniques for insertion of the implants. At the same time the engineers and physicists studied the metal’s surface and how the implant could be designed to promote the best possible conditions for healing.
Per-Ingvar Brånemark passed away in 2014.
Fifty years since the first patient
This year, it has been fifty years since the first person received titanium screws in their jaw. It was Gösta Larsson, who received a full bridge anchored with titanium implants in 1965. The implants worked well for the forty years Gösta Larsson lived with them. The dental profession was highly skeptical of the new treatment for a long time, but by the end the 1970s, an independent scientific panel reported that the method should be recommended as a treatment for tooth loss. Today, implant treatments are routine for many dentists. Approximately 100 million patients worldwide now have one or more titanium screws in their jaws based on Brånemark’s method.
TEXT: ELIN LINDSTRÖM CLAESSEN
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What a wonderful story. Very grateful to Mr. Bohlin for sharing his experience, which may save a lot of people so much grief about the most important function the body has, that of eating properly. For Mr. Bohlin, it was also his singing and acting career, so Dr. Branemark saved him twice! Thanks to Mr. Elin Lindstrom Claessen for publishing this article.