Zirconia and Titanium Implants Showed Comparable Bone Loss at 3 Years, Trial Finds

Posted: June 18, 2026

Zirconia and Titanium Implants Showed Comparable Bone Loss at 3 Years, Trial Finds

Edited by Dentaltown staff

Zirconia and titanium dental implants produced nearly identical marginal bone loss three years after placement in a randomized trial published June 17 in Clinical Oral Implants Research, adding longer-term evidence to an ongoing comparison of the two implant materials.

The trial enrolled 50 patients who each needed a single implant in the upper premolar region, randomly assigning them to a one-piece zirconia implant or a two-piece titanium bone-level implant. Both were restored with a lithium disilicate crown three months after placement, and patients were examined three years after the crowns were seated.

The primary measure was change in marginal bone level. After three years, mean bone-level change was -0.02 mm for zirconia and -0.04 mm for titanium, a difference that was not statistically significant.

One zirconia implant failed to integrate with the bone. Clinical measures were favorable for both materials, though the zirconia group showed slightly higher bleeding scores.

Aesthetic outcomes and patient-reported outcome measures trended in favor of zirconia, but none of those differences reached statistical significance.

The authors concluded that both implant types showed comparable bone-level changes and generally favorable, similar results after three years, indicating that both are viable options for single-tooth replacement in this region. They described the findings as short-term.

The study was conducted by de Beus and colleagues at the University of Groningen and University Medical Center Groningen in the Netherlands. The trial was registered with the Netherlands’ Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects.

Sources:
Clinical Oral Implants Research: doi.org/10.1111/clr.70148
PubMed: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42310881


Zirconia and Titanium Implants Showed Comparable Bone Loss at 3 Years, Trial Finds

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