Alpha-Bio Tec NeO vs Spiral (SPI)

Quick answer

NeO is Alpha-Bio current flagship and the only implant in the range offered on all three of the company connections, so the name alone does not tell a laboratory what will fit it. Spiral — listed in older records as SPI — is a self-drilling bone-condensing implant on the internal hex platform only.

Side by side

Rows appear only where at least one side has data. Where a value is not verified we say so rather than leaving it blank.

Attribute	Alpha-Bio Tec NeO	Alpha-Bio Tec Spiral (SPI)
Manufacturer	Alpha-Bio Tec. Ltd.Manufacturer-reported[1][2]	Alpha-Bio Tec. Ltd.Manufacturer-reported[1][2]
Body geometry	Tapered body with an apical part carrying centring and anchoring featuresManufacturer-reported[1]	Osteotome-like condensing body with a pronounced tapered coreManufacturer-reported[1]
Material	Titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V ELIManufacturer-reported[1]	Titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V ELIManufacturer-reported[1]
Surface	NanoTec — described by Alpha-Bio as a hybrid surface produced by sandblasting with 20–40 micron particles followed by a double thermal etch creating 1–5 micron micro-poresManufacturer-reported[1]	NanoTec — sandblasting with 20–40 micron particles followed by a double thermal etchManufacturer-reported[1]
Connection	Offered on three connections: conical standard, conical hex and internal hexManufacturer-reported[1]	Internal hexManufacturer-reported[1]
Platform switching	Platform switching is listed among the design features of NeOManufacturer-reported[1]	Manufacturer documentation not located
Available diameters	Ø3.75, 4.2 and 5.0 mmManufacturer-reported[1]	Ø3.3, 3.75, 4.2, 5.0 and 6.0 mmManufacturer-reported[1]
Available lengths	8, 10, 11.5, 13 and 16 mm; Ø5.0 is not listed at 16 mmManufacturer-reported[1]	8, 10, 11.5, 13 and 16 mm; Ø6.0 is not listed at 16 mmManufacturer-reported[1]

Manufacturer

Alpha-Bio Tec NeO

Alpha-Bio Tec. Ltd.Manufacturer-reported[1][2]

Alpha-Bio Tec Spiral (SPI)

Alpha-Bio Tec. Ltd.Manufacturer-reported[1][2]

Body geometry

Alpha-Bio Tec NeO

Tapered body with an apical part carrying centring and anchoring featuresManufacturer-reported[1]

Alpha-Bio Tec Spiral (SPI)

Osteotome-like condensing body with a pronounced tapered coreManufacturer-reported[1]

Material

Alpha-Bio Tec NeO

Titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V ELIManufacturer-reported[1]

Alpha-Bio Tec Spiral (SPI)

Titanium alloy Ti-6Al-4V ELIManufacturer-reported[1]

Surface

Alpha-Bio Tec NeO

NanoTec — described by Alpha-Bio as a hybrid surface produced by sandblasting with 20–40 micron particles followed by a double thermal etch creating 1–5 micron micro-poresManufacturer-reported[1]

Alpha-Bio Tec Spiral (SPI)

NanoTec — sandblasting with 20–40 micron particles followed by a double thermal etchManufacturer-reported[1]

Connection

Alpha-Bio Tec NeO

Offered on three connections: conical standard, conical hex and internal hexManufacturer-reported[1]

Alpha-Bio Tec Spiral (SPI)

Internal hexManufacturer-reported[1]

Platform switching

Alpha-Bio Tec NeO

Platform switching is listed among the design features of NeOManufacturer-reported[1]

Alpha-Bio Tec Spiral (SPI)

Manufacturer documentation not located

Available diameters

Alpha-Bio Tec NeO

Ø3.75, 4.2 and 5.0 mmManufacturer-reported[1]

Alpha-Bio Tec Spiral (SPI)

Ø3.3, 3.75, 4.2, 5.0 and 6.0 mmManufacturer-reported[1]

Available lengths

Alpha-Bio Tec NeO

8, 10, 11.5, 13 and 16 mm; Ø5.0 is not listed at 16 mmManufacturer-reported[1]

Alpha-Bio Tec Spiral (SPI)

8, 10, 11.5, 13 and 16 mm; Ø6.0 is not listed at 16 mmManufacturer-reported[1]

The biggest differences

NeO is a tapered implant with two coronal micro-threads that Alpha-Bio states add about 20% surface area, plus a platform-switched connection. Spiral has an osteotome-like condensing body with a pronounced tapered core and sharp deep apical threads, and Alpha-Bio describes it as self-drilling — it can be driven into soft bone with little or no preparation and its path redirected during insertion. Alpha-Bio indicates NeO for bone types II, III and IV and Spiral for types III and IV.

Design

Spiral covers the wider range: 3.3, 3.75, 4.2, 5.0 and 6.0 mm against NeO 3.75, 4.2 and 5.0 mm. Lengths are 8 to 16 mm on both, with the widest fixture in each not offered at 16 mm. If a 3.3 mm or a 6.0 mm implant is needed in this range, Spiral is where those sizes are.

Material and surface

Both are made from Ti-6Al-4V ELI titanium alloy with the NanoTec surface, which Alpha-Bio describes as sandblasting with 20 to 40 micron particles followed by a double thermal etch producing 1 to 5 micron micro-pores. Alloy rather than commercially pure titanium is a genuine material difference from several other systems in the same price bracket, and it is a difference in mechanical properties rather than a quality ranking.

Prosthetic ecosystem

This is where the comparison has teeth. NeO is offered on three connections — conical standard, conical hex and internal hex — so two NeO implants can take entirely different components. Spiral is internal hex only. The connection code on the package is what a laboratory needs; the implant name is not sufficient on its own for NeO.

Important limitations

The naming is a real hazard here. Alpha-Bio 2019 catalogue lists this implant as Spiral and footnotes it as formerly known as SPI, so older records, laboratory libraries and second-hand accounts may use either name for the same product. If you are tracing an existing implant, treat SPI and Spiral as the same thing and confirm the connection separately.

So which is better?

Neither is universally better, and any page telling you otherwise is selling something. These are different designs with different trade-offs, and the right choice depends on the bone available, the position in the mouth, the planned restoration, and what the treating clinician is equipped and experienced to place and to service years from now. That last point is easy to overlook and matters more than most specification differences: components need to remain obtainable for as long as the implant is in place.

Regulatory record

US FDA 510(k) clearances held by each side, retrieved from the FDA's own database. Clearances are held at brand level, so every system from the same brand shares this record.

Alpha-Bio Tec NeO

via Alpha-Bio Tec

FDA 510(k) clearance

2007 – 2007

Filed by Alpha-Bio Tec , Ltd.

Alpha-Bio Tec Spiral (SPI)

via Alpha-Bio Tec

FDA 510(k) clearance

2007 – 2007

Filed by Alpha-Bio Tec , Ltd.

A clearance count is not a quality ranking, and the larger number is not the better implant. A brand with more clearances usually has a longer history or a broader component range. FDA "clearance" also is not FDA "approval" — it means the device was accepted as substantially equivalent to one already on the market, generally without a clinical trial. A blank here means we could not match a filing with confidence, not that the brand lacks authorisation. What these actually mean →

Sources

Numbers match the citations beside each claim above.

Primary sources

[1]Alpha-Bio Tec Product Catalog 2019 — Alpha-Bio Tec. Ltd., 2019. Accessed 2026-07-21.
[2]Part of Envista Group — Alpha-Bio Tec. — Alpha-Bio Tec. Ltd.. Accessed 2026-07-21.