Zirconia
Also known as: ZrO2, zirconium dioxide, ceramic implant material
A tooth-coloured ceramic used for metal-free dental implants and abutments, chemically distinct from the zirconium used in titanium-zirconium alloys.
Research in progress. Some fields on this entry are not yet verified against a primary source, so we have left them blank rather than filling them in — and this page is not published to search engines until they are.
Key facts
| Composition | Requires manual verification(Typically yttria-stabilised tetragonal zirconia polycrystal; we have not yet attached a primary source) |
|---|---|
| Standard | Manufacturer documentation not located |
Overview
Zirconia is a ceramic, not a metal, and this is the single most common point of confusion: zirconia implants are not 'zirconium implants', and they are unrelated to the titanium-zirconium alloys used by some titanium implant ranges. The clinical interest in zirconia is largely aesthetic and driven by patients who prefer a metal-free option. The evidence base is considerably younger than titanium's, which is a statement about how long the material has been studied rather than a verdict on it.