More than 100,000 people will need a shoulder replacement each year.

For older adults, arthritis is the main reason for severe shoulder pain.

Experts say the younger you have surgery, the more likely the replacement parts will wear out or fail. But a new FDA approved implant is changing the game.

Greek Orthodox Priest Father Jordan Brown knew he wanted to be a priest since he was 16 years old.

"I love serving the church," Brown said.

But Father Brown was also just a teenager when he first hurt his left shoulder. Decades later, the pain almost cost him his calling.

"I'll start with the baptism, holding an infant was excruciating pain," Father Brown said.

Father Brown was the perfect candidate for a newly FDA approved shoulder replacement made of a pyrocarbon, not the traditional metallic and plastic.

"The weak link is that plastic. So, if you're older, and you're not very active, that plastic's fine, it'll last your whole life. But, when you're young, like Father Brown, he was 59 when I did his shoulder replacement. You have years to live with a shoulder and that's a complication," Rose Medical Center Orthopedic Surgeon Armand Hatzidakis said.

The ball will move, causing wear and tear, and patients end up needing a second replacement surgery. But the new pyrocarbon head has the same feel as bone.

"The biocarbon graphite substrate is a lot more like bone than metal is. So it cooperates better with the native bone. That's the real breakthrough in the technology," Hatzidakis said.

Now, Father Brown is not only back in the pulpit, but also physically stronger than he's been in years.

"A year ago, my arms were shaking to do a push-up. Now I have no problem," Father Brown said.

Hatzidakis was the leader of the implants study for the FDA. He says he doesn't see the normal wear and tear of the shoulder eight to 10 years after surgery, even though his patients are very active.