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Roxolid® implants — dental implants in titanium and zirconium

Roxolid implants can also be placed where bone volume and space are limited.

Modern implant surfaces and materials open up new treatment options and can shorten the healing period. One recent development is a material called Straumann® ROXOLID™, an alloy of titanium and zirconium. Roxolid® is an innovative material developed specifically for dental implantology. Its markedly improved stability and high mechanical load-bearing capacity make it possible to produce implants of smaller diameter. The titanium-zirconium alloy is stronger than pure titanium and promises good healing (osseointegration) properties.

The new material combines high mechanical strength with osteoconductivity – the formation of new bone and support for natural bone growth. Mechanical tests have shown Roxolid® implants to be stronger than implants of pure titanium. The reduced-diameter Roxolid implants can be placed gently even where bone and space are limited, for example in the anterior region, where interdental spaces are too narrow or the alveolar ridge is too thin. The smaller implants are particularly suited to patients with narrow gaps between the teeth and little bone.

Bone-grafting measures that would be necessary for larger-diameter implants can sometimes be avoided. Where the jawbone is too narrow to take a conventional implant without additional augmentation, the thinner implants can be placed instead. The advantages of the smaller implants are less surgical trauma and a shorter overall treatment time, since the grafting procedure and its healing period are no longer needed.

Minimally invasive methods are increasingly the focus in implantology. Alongside tissue-preserving treatment variants, smaller or reduced-diameter implants play a special part. Reduced-diameter implants are two-part implant systems with a diameter of 3.0 to 3.5 mm, made of the same biocompatible materials as standard-diameter implants. They are expected to achieve the same survival rates as standard implants.

Answered briefly

Frequently asked questions

Roxolid is an implant material made of titanium and zirconium that was developed specifically for dental implantology. The alloy is more stable than pure titanium, and mechanical tests have shown its greater strength compared with pure titanium. At the same time it promises good healing properties in the bone.
Implants with a smaller diameter are an option where there is little bone or little space, for example in the front tooth region, with very narrow gaps between the teeth or with a jaw ridge that is too thin. If the jawbone is too narrow for an implant of the usual thickness, the thinner implant can be placed while sparing tissue.
Because a narrower implant often fits into the bone that is there, bone grafting that would otherwise be needed can be dispensed with. That removes both the additional procedure and its healing time, and the treatment period becomes shorter. The surgical trauma is smaller as well.