Tapered Screw-Vent vs ZimVie TSX

Quick answer

TSX is the more recent ZimVie tapered implant and is best understood as a redesign of Tapered Screw-Vent for immediate placement, with a double-lead thread and drills that branch by bone type. The two ranges are colour-coded differently and should not be cross-read, which is where most ordering errors between them come from.

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	Tapered Screw-Vent	ZimVie TSX
Current status	Current. ZimVie publishes a TSV product catalogue and product page.Manufacturer-reported[1][2]	Current. ZimVie publishes a TSX product catalogue.Manufacturer-reported[3]
Implant level	Manufacturer documentation not located(The catalogue lists both a fully textured version and a version with a 0.5 mm machined collar, which affects where the implant is placed relative to bone, but does not classify the system by level.)	Bone level. ZimVie states that TSX implants are designed to be placed at bone level or slightly below the crest of the bone, and captions the range "Bone-Level Implants".Manufacturer-reported[4]
Body geometry	Tapered body, catalogued in a fully MTX-textured version with microgrooves and a version with a 0.5 mm machined collar.Manufacturer-reported[1]	Tapered body with a defined apex diameter for each body diameter: ∅ 2.7 mm apex on the ∅ 3.1 mm implant, 3.0 on 3.7, 3.7 on 4.1, 4.0 on 4.7, 4.7 on 5.4 and 5.4 on 6.0 mm.Manufacturer-reported[3]
Surface	MTX microtextured surface on the sub-crestal portion. Some configurations add MP-1 HA dual transition selective surface, and some add microgrooves in the collar region.Manufacturer-reported[1][2]	MTX surface on the body with a 1.5 mm dual acid-etched coronal zone.Manufacturer-reported[3]
Connection	Internal hex. The ∅ 3.7, 4.1 and 4.7 mm implants use a 2.5 mm internal hex; the ∅ 6.0 mm implant uses a 3.0 mm internal hex.Manufacturer-reported[1]	The ∅ 2.9 mm NP platform uses a 2.1 mm conical hex; the ∅ 3.5 mm and ∅ 4.5 mm platforms use a 2.5 mm internal hex.Manufacturer-reported[3]
Platform switching	The prosthetic platform is narrower than the implant body throughout the range: ∅ 3.5 mm platform on the ∅ 3.7 mm and ∅ 4.1 mm implants, ∅ 4.5 mm on the ∅ 4.7 mm implant, and ∅ 5.7 mm on the ∅ 6.0 mm implant.Manufacturer-reported[1]	Every body diameter is mounted on a narrower platform: ∅ 3.1 mm body on a ∅ 2.9 mm platform, ∅ 3.7, 4.1 and 4.7 mm bodies on a ∅ 3.5 mm platform, and ∅ 5.4 and 6.0 mm bodies on a ∅ 4.5 mm platform.Manufacturer-reported[3]
Available diameters	∅ 3.7, 4.1, 4.7 and 6.0 mm.Manufacturer-reported[1]	∅ 3.1, 3.7, 4.1, 4.7, 5.4 and 6.0 mm.Manufacturer-reported[3]
Available lengths	8, 10, 11.5, 13 and 16 mm across all four diameters.Manufacturer-reported[1]	8, 10, 11.5, 13 and 16 mm across all six diameters.Manufacturer-reported[3]

Current status

Tapered Screw-Vent

Current. ZimVie publishes a TSV product catalogue and product page.Manufacturer-reported[1][2]

ZimVie TSX

Current. ZimVie publishes a TSX product catalogue.Manufacturer-reported[3]

Implant level

Tapered Screw-Vent

Manufacturer documentation not located(The catalogue lists both a fully textured version and a version with a 0.5 mm machined collar, which affects where the implant is placed relative to bone, but does not classify the system by level.)

ZimVie TSX

Bone level. ZimVie states that TSX implants are designed to be placed at bone level or slightly below the crest of the bone, and captions the range "Bone-Level Implants".Manufacturer-reported[4]

Body geometry

Tapered Screw-Vent

Tapered body, catalogued in a fully MTX-textured version with microgrooves and a version with a 0.5 mm machined collar.Manufacturer-reported[1]

ZimVie TSX

Tapered body with a defined apex diameter for each body diameter: ∅ 2.7 mm apex on the ∅ 3.1 mm implant, 3.0 on 3.7, 3.7 on 4.1, 4.0 on 4.7, 4.7 on 5.4 and 5.4 on 6.0 mm.Manufacturer-reported[3]

Surface

Tapered Screw-Vent

MTX microtextured surface on the sub-crestal portion. Some configurations add MP-1 HA dual transition selective surface, and some add microgrooves in the collar region.Manufacturer-reported[1][2]

ZimVie TSX

MTX surface on the body with a 1.5 mm dual acid-etched coronal zone.Manufacturer-reported[3]

Connection

Tapered Screw-Vent

Internal hex. The ∅ 3.7, 4.1 and 4.7 mm implants use a 2.5 mm internal hex; the ∅ 6.0 mm implant uses a 3.0 mm internal hex.Manufacturer-reported[1]

ZimVie TSX

The ∅ 2.9 mm NP platform uses a 2.1 mm conical hex; the ∅ 3.5 mm and ∅ 4.5 mm platforms use a 2.5 mm internal hex.Manufacturer-reported[3]

Platform switching

Tapered Screw-Vent

The prosthetic platform is narrower than the implant body throughout the range: ∅ 3.5 mm platform on the ∅ 3.7 mm and ∅ 4.1 mm implants, ∅ 4.5 mm on the ∅ 4.7 mm implant, and ∅ 5.7 mm on the ∅ 6.0 mm implant.Manufacturer-reported[1]

ZimVie TSX

Every body diameter is mounted on a narrower platform: ∅ 3.1 mm body on a ∅ 2.9 mm platform, ∅ 3.7, 4.1 and 4.7 mm bodies on a ∅ 3.5 mm platform, and ∅ 5.4 and 6.0 mm bodies on a ∅ 4.5 mm platform.Manufacturer-reported[3]

Available diameters

Tapered Screw-Vent

∅ 3.7, 4.1, 4.7 and 6.0 mm.Manufacturer-reported[1]

ZimVie TSX

∅ 3.1, 3.7, 4.1, 4.7, 5.4 and 6.0 mm.Manufacturer-reported[3]

Available lengths

Tapered Screw-Vent

8, 10, 11.5, 13 and 16 mm across all four diameters.Manufacturer-reported[1]

ZimVie TSX

8, 10, 11.5, 13 and 16 mm across all six diameters.Manufacturer-reported[3]

The biggest differences

Tapered Screw-Vent is a tapered implant with a friction-fit internal hex, offered in a fully MTX-textured version with microgrooves and a version with a 0.5 mm machined collar. TSX has a double-lead thread, an MTX surface below a 1.5 mm dual acid-etched coronal zone, and a defined apex diameter for every body diameter. ZimVie supplies TSX with separate final drills marked E, S and D for extraction, soft bone and dense bone.

Design

The colour coding is the trap. ZimVie catalogue is explicit that TSX colours differ from TSV — the 4.7 mm TSX sits on a green 3.5 mm platform and the 6.0 mm on a purple 4.5 mm platform, which is not how the older system is coded. A second trap runs the other way: on TSV the 3.7 mm and 4.1 mm implants share a single 3.5 mm platform, so the abutment does not tell you the body diameter. TSX covers 3.1 to 6.0 mm, TSV 3.7 to 6.0 mm.

Prosthetic ecosystem

Both are internal hex systems but the platform allocation differs. On TSV the 3.7, 4.1 and 4.7 mm implants use a 2.5 mm internal hex and the 6.0 mm implant a 3.0 mm hex. On TSX the 2.9 mm NP platform uses a 2.1 mm conical hex and the 3.5 mm and 4.5 mm platforms use a 2.5 mm internal hex. Both are platform-switched throughout, with the prosthetic platform narrower than the implant body on every size.

Geographic availability and serviceability

Tapered Screw-Vent has been in use long enough that it is one of the implants most often encountered when a patient arrives needing a replacement crown on an old fixture, and it remains catalogued. That continuity is a genuine advantage of a long-lived line, and it is a fair reason to record the exact configuration: TSV is split across surface variants — plain MTX, MTX with a machined collar, and versions carrying an MP-1 hydroxyapatite dual transition — which are different products rather than cosmetic options.

Important limitations

ZimVie does not state the substrate material in either catalogue we reviewed, so the material row is blank on both sides. Both records are held as database-only for that reason, along with the implant level being unstated.

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.

Sources

Numbers match the citations beside each claim above.

Primary sources

[1]Trabecular Metal™ and Tapered Screw-Vent® Implant System — Product Catalog (ZVINST0151) — ZimVie Inc.. Accessed 2026-07-21.
[2]Tapered Screw-Vent® (TSV) Dental Implant System — ZimVie Inc.. Accessed 2026-07-21.
[3]TSX® Implant System — Product Catalog (ZVINST0019) — ZimVie Inc.. Accessed 2026-07-21.
[4]Surgical Manual — TSX® Implant System (ZVINST0015) — ZimVie Inc.. Accessed 2026-07-22.