Anodised surface
Also known as: Anodized surface, Anodic oxidation surface, Oxidised titanium surface, Anodic oxidised surface
An implant surface produced by anodic oxidation, an electrochemical process that thickens and restructures the titanium dioxide layer already present on the fixture rather than cutting into the metal.
Key facts
| Production process | Nobel Biocare describes anodisation as working "by increasing the thickness of the implant’s TiO2 layer, moderately roughening it, and improving osteoconductivity", and lists anodisation alongside sandblasting and acid etching as the main surface modification techniques in current use.Manufacturer-reported[1][2] |
|---|---|
| Surface category | Roughness classification (Wennerberg & Albrektsson 2009): smooth Sa below 0.5 micrometres; minimally rough Sa 0.5-1 micrometres; moderately rough Sa above 1 up to 2 micrometres; rough Sa above 2 micrometres.Verified spec[5] |
| Surface roughness | Requires manual verification(Anodising parameters vary widely and no single roughness figure describes the category. See the individual product records for manufacturer-stated values.) |
| Geographic availability | Nobel Biocare’s implant catalogue offers two surfaces, TiUnite and TiUltra, both of which the company describes as anodised.Manufacturer-reported[3][4] |
Overview
Anodising is chemically the odd one out among implant surfaces. Blasting and etching remove titanium; anodising adds to it, growing the oxide film that titanium forms naturally in air into a thicker, porous layer. The result is a surface that is rough and porous without the fixture having been abraded, which is why anodised implants look visibly different under an electron microscope - and, on some products, why they have a faint colour, since oxide thickness determines the interference colour of the surface. Nobel Biocare is the manufacturer most associated with the approach, and its two current surfaces both use it. The practical caution is that "anodised" describes a process, not a specification: the voltage, electrolyte and duration determine what you actually get, and those parameters are not published, so two anodised surfaces are not interchangeable simply because they share the label.
Sources
Numbers match the citations beside each claim above.
Primary sources
- [1]Dental implant surface treatments: what you need to know — Nobel Biocare Services AG. Accessed 2026-07-21.
- [2]TiUltra real science — Nobel Biocare Services AG. Accessed 2026-07-21.
- [3]Nobel Biocare implant catalogue — connection and surface filters — Nobel Biocare Services AG. Accessed 2026-07-21.
- [4]TiUnite sets the standard for implant surface evidence — Nobel Biocare Services AG, 2017. Accessed 2026-07-21.
Clinical evidence
- [5]Effects of titanium surface topography on bone integration: a systematic review — Clinical Oral Implants Research (PubMed record), 2009. Accessed 2026-07-21.