Purpose: To assess the clinical performance of a two-piece zirconia implant system (PURE Ceramic Implants, Straumann, Basel, Switzerland) in the maxilla after a follow-up period of more than 1 year.
Materials and methods: A total of 19 patients in three centres received 24 single-tooth implants in the maxilla. The implants were restored after a mean healing period of 7.1 ± 0.4 months (range 7 to 9 months). Implant survival, implant success, Plaque Index, probing pocket depth, bleeding on probing, mucosal recession/creeping attachment, width of keratinised mucosa, papilla index and pink aesthetic score were evaluated after prosthetic loading (T0), after 6 months (T1) and at the final follow-up (T2, mean 15.0 ± 2.1 months, range 12 to 19 months).
Results: All implants survived and were suitable for retaining prostheses. Low values were recorded for Plaque Index (0.38 ± 0.68) and probing pocket depth (2.49 ± 0.49 mm). Bleeding on probing increased significantly from T0 (21.7%) to T1 (50.0%) (P = 0.0342) and then remained stable (50.0% at T2). No recession was detected around any of the implants. A statistically significant increase in attachment level was observed from T0 to T2 (0.79 ± 0.88 mm; P = 0.0196). A papilla index of 2.27 ± 0.81 and pink aesthetic score of 11.67 ± 1.60 at T2 indicated a completely satisfying aesthetic result.
Conclusion: Within the limitations of the present study, the two-piece zirconia implant system investigated achieved fully satisfying functional and aesthetic results.