What should I know about my implant?

The manufacturer and model, the connection or platform size, the diameter and length, the date it was placed, the office that placed it, and ideally the lot number from the package label. Many offices give this on a card or in writing. Keep it with your dental records, and give a copy to any new dentist.

What if I don't know what brand my implant is?

Ask the office that placed it; the brand and size are in your chart. If that office has closed or the records are gone, a dentist can often narrow it down from X-rays and the parts on the implant, but implants of similar design can be hard to tell apart. In a 2026 study by Kazim and colleagues , general AI chatbots could not reliably identify implant systems from images either.

Are look-alike or 'compatible' parts as good as the originals?

Not on the evidence so far. A 2022 systematic review of 40 studies by Rizvi and colleagues found original abutments fit more precisely, leaked less, moved less and resisted fatigue better than non-original ones, and recommended using original abutments.

Is a more expensive implant always better?

No. Titanium implants from established manufacturers integrate well, and a 2003 review for the FDI World Dental Federation found many manufacturers' claims of superiority were not supported by research. The reasons to choose a particular system are its long-term documentation, the availability of its parts, and the likelihood that its maker will still support it decades from now.

What happens if my implant's company goes out of business?

The implant itself usually keeps working. The difficulty comes later, when a screw loosens, a crown needs replacing or a part breaks, and the matching parts are hard or impossible to find. A dentist may then have to adapt parts from another source or, in some cases, replace the implant.

Why Your Dental Implant's Brand Matters

In the Austin area? Dr. Verrett provides this care in North Austin. See Dental Implants in Austin, or request a consult.

Most patients ask how long an implant lasts and what it costs. Few ask which implant it is, and few are told. Yet the brand and model decide something that matters for decades: whether every part that goes on top of it can still be found, fitted and replaced when it needs to be. This article explains why, what to ask before treatment, and why this office places implants from one long-documented system.

An Implant Is the First Part of a System

The implant is the titanium root in the bone. On top of it sits an abutment, held by a small screw, and on the abutment sits the crown. Each implant system has its own connection, the shape where the abutment meets the implant, and its own screws, sizes and tools. Parts from one system generally do not fit another.

Those parts are not a one-time purchase. Over an implant’s life, screws can loosen, crowns can chip or be replaced, and a bridge may need repair or remaking. Each time, the dentist needs parts made for that exact implant, in that exact size. An implant that is well integrated but impossible to restore is a problem.

Know Your Implant, and Keep the Record

Before an implant is placed, it is reasonable to ask for, and keep:

the manufacturer and the model
the connection or platform size, which determines which parts fit
the diameter and length
the lot number, from the label on the implant’s package
the date it was placed, and the office that placed it

This is the information a dentist needs years later, possibly in another city. Keep it with your other health records, and give a copy to your general dentist.

Why “Which Implant Is This?” Is Hard to Answer Later

The number of implant systems is large. A 2003 review for the FDI World Dental Federation by Jokstad and colleagues identified more than 220 implant brands from about 80 manufacturers, and more than 2,000 implant variations a dentist could choose from in a given situation.

Without a record, a dentist has to work out the system from X-rays and from the parts already on the implant. Researchers have built atlases and flowcharts to help: Sahiwal and colleagues catalogued the X-ray features of threaded implants in tables and flowcharts so dentists could tell them apart. But implants of similar design look alike. In a 2026 study, Kazim and colleagues tested general AI tools on the task. None identified implant systems reliably, and tapered implants with internal connections were a common source of mistakes. A written record removes the guesswork.

Original Parts and Look-Alikes

When original parts are hard to get, or cost more, some restorations are made with “compatible” parts from a different manufacturer, designed to fit a popular implant. Some implants are themselves copies, often called clones, of a well-known design. The research on how well non-original parts fit is consistent:

A 2022 systematic review of 40 studies by Rizvi and colleagues found original abutments showed better precision of fit, better resistance to leakage, less rotational misfit and micromotion, and higher fatigue strength than non-original abutments. The authors’ clinical recommendation was to use original abutments.
In a laboratory study by Gigandet and colleagues, non-original abutments differed in the design of their connecting surfaces and material, showed more rotational misfit, and failed in unexpected ways.
In a study by Berberi and colleagues, compatible components showed significantly more movement under load at the implant–abutment junction than original ones. The authors noted that this kind of movement, with leakage, is associated with bone loss around the implant neck.

These are mostly laboratory studies, and some compatible parts perform acceptably in them. But the direction of the evidence is clear, and it argues for an implant whose original parts will remain available.

Will the Company Still Be Here?

A well-placed implant can serve for decades. In the first long-term report on osseointegrated implants, Adell, Lekholm, Rockler and Brånemark followed 2,768 implants in 410 jaws placed between 1965 and 1980. Among the cases treated with their standardized method, 91 percent of lower-jaw implants and 81 percent of upper-jaw implants remained stable after five to nine years. Modern implants are expected to last at least as long. So the company that makes your implant needs to be supplying its parts, and supporting dentists who restore it, for 20 years or more.

Dental implant companies merge, are sold, and rename or discontinue product lines; Nobel Biocare’s own history includes a renaming and a sale. A large, long-established manufacturer is not guaranteed to last forever, but its track record of supporting older implants is something a patient can check. It is reasonable to ask how long a system has been on the market, and whether dentists and laboratories near you stock its parts.

A System Backed by Decades of Research

This office places Nobel Biocare implants. Nobel Biocare’s own history traces the company to Per-Ingvar Brånemark, who placed the first osseointegrated dental implants in Gothenburg in 1965. It also records Nobelpharma, founded with Brånemark in 1981, becoming Nobel Biocare in 1996, and Nobel Biocare being acquired by Danaher in 2015. Brånemark’s group published the foundational reports: a 1977 monograph covering ten years of experience and the 15-year study above.

The company’s moderately rough surface, TiUnite, was introduced in 2000. In a 2017 meta-analysis of 106 prospective studies by Karl and Albrektsson, implants with that surface had a 10-year survival rate of 95.14 percent per implant. Peri-implantitis was reported in 5.2 percent of patients in the studies that recorded it. Nobel’s newer TiUltra surface builds on TiUnite; its published research so far is laboratory and animal work, such as Shahdad and colleagues’ study of bone healing in grafted defects in minipigs, rather than decades of clinical follow-up.

For the NobelReplace Conical Connection implant specifically:

In a series of 148 NobelReplace Conical Connection implants by Pozzi and Mura, many placed straight into extraction sockets and loaded immediately, the success rate was 99.3 percent. Mean bone loss was 0.71 millimeters at two years, and no technical complications occurred.
In a retrospective comparison by Meloni and colleagues of the same implant body with two different connections, the conical-connection version lost 0.22 millimeters of bone over three years against 0.62 millimeters for the flat connection.
More broadly, a 2023 network meta-analysis by Camps-Font and colleagues found conical connections had less bone loss and fewer prosthetic complications than external hexagon connections after a year of loading, with no difference in survival. Not every review agrees on bone loss: a 2019 meta-analysis by Rosa and colleagues found no significant difference between conical and external hex connections over five years.

It is also fair to say what the research does not show. The 2003 FDI review found that titanium implants perform well in properly prepared bone regardless of small differences in shape, and that many manufacturers’ claims of superiority were not supported by evidence. The case for a long-established system is not that other titanium implants fail to integrate. It is decades of published follow-up, parts that remain available, and a manufacturer with a long record of supporting what it sells.

What to Ask Before You Agree to an Implant

What brand and model of implant will you place, and what size?
How long has this system been on the market, and what long-term studies support it?
Will I receive a written record with the brand, model, size and lot number?
Can my general dentist and their laboratory get original parts for it?
If the crown, abutment or screw ever needs replacing, will original parts be used?

A second opinion is a reasonable time to ask these questions about a plan made elsewhere.

Implants in This Office

Dr. Andrew Verrett is a Diplomate of the American Board of Periodontology and the only doctor at Austin Periodontal Associates in North Austin. He places Nobel Biocare implants only, the NobelReplace Conical Connection and NobelActive, with Nobel’s TiUnite and TiUltra surfaces. Laboratories that restore Nobel Biocare implants stock their parts, and the dentist who makes the crown receives a written record of the implant and the parts recommended for it. Dental implants explains how treatment works, and problems with an implant covers implants placed anywhere that are bleeding, loose or failing. Request a consult or call (512) 346-6097.

Know Your Implant: Why the Brand Matters for the Next 20 Years