In the work at hand, clinical results of dental
screw implants made of zirconium oxide (type
Z-Look3, Z-Systems) have been evaluated for the
fi rst time. Altogether, 189 implants were examined
by 71 experimentalists. The middle lay
days were 8.2 months. One year later the
reliability function was 93% according to Kaplan-
Meier. The success of the implants was also
judged by clinical and x-ray examination parameters
as defi ned by Jahn and d’Hoedt in the success criterion catalogue. A year later the
probability of succsess in this group lay also
(44=n) at 93%. When compared with similar
studies to titanium implants, zirconium implants
do comparably well in the two residence time
analyses. If one takes into account the aesthetic
advantages of zirconium oxide in comparison to
titanium, the results lead one to assume that
zirconium oxide can establish itself alongside
titanium in implant dentistry in the future. What
importance can be attributed to these fi rst
results, clinical long-term studies will have to
clarify.