B8. Advantages of Ceramics in Biomedical Applications: Is the Transition to Metal-free Implants already Started?

Millions of medical devices are implanted every year. Ceramics are applied massively in orthopedic and dental applications such as bearings for joint replacement or screws and crowns for tooth-like restorations. The negligible wear of ceramic bearings and the immunocompatibility of the material are the pre-requisites for optimal long-term clinical performance of ceramic devices, and for the fast host bone healing. The outstanding biological properties of ceramics in combination with an accurate surgical handling are showing the best survival in the category. Ceramics offer also significantly better aesthetic outcome in dental field avoiding visible grays lines under the gums or along the tooth ridge, as well as local tissue reaction in metal-sensitized patients.

The session is aimed to address the key challenges for the materials in use, reviewing their clinical performance and how their features can be exploited in novel concept designs, as the metal- and plastic-free implants, which may potentially further improve the outcomes of ceramic devices.

Proposed Session Topics

• Clinical outcomes of ceramic components
• Host response of advanced bioceramics
• Novel ceramic applications in medicine
• Novel assessment methodologies for the current implants

Organizers

• Alessandro Alan Porporati, CeramTec GmbH, Plochingen, Germany a.porporati@ceramtec.de
• Corrado Piconi, Associate to the Institute for the Science and Technology of Ceramics – National Research Council (ISTEC-CNR), Italy
• Lia Rimondini, University of Piemonte Orientale “Amedeo Avogadro”, Italy
• Giorgio Perino, Hospital of Special Surgery, USA
• Laurent Sedel, CC/Contact, France