Titanium dental implants have been marketed as excellent for replacing missing teeth for viable dental candidates and are supposedly manufactured to specifications to last a "lifetime." Question is whose lifetime: the dental patient or the functionality of the dental implant? The following link cites a case involving a dental implant manufactured by ZIMMER DENTAL, Inc. that fractured after about 6 years of functionality. What precautions should one take to ensure dental implants are of the highest quality and are implanted by the most capable implant practitioners?