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by Dr Bayan Habibi, Karrinyup Dental Centre, WA – A Straumann Pro Arch Centre of Competence
The demands of contemporary implantology are vast—simple surgical instrumentation, simple restorative protocols, less components to stock, high primary stability, fast osseointegration, high mechanical strength and resilience to biological complications. A tissue level implant eliminates the risks associated with an abutment microgap close to the peri-implant alveolar crest, hence lower incidences of peri-implantitis around tissue level implants. That’s why the Straumann TLX is an indispensable asset in my clinical practice.
What’s good about it
In conjunction with the shortened time to osseointegration of two months and the strongest titanium metallurgy on the market, clinicians are provided the highest statistical chance of short- and long-term success with the Straumann TLX. The advanced metallurgy allows for narrower implant sizes than is conventional. This is due to the improved mechanical properties over the industry standard grade-IV titanium.
Surgically, the TLX implant geometry provides high primary stability in almost any site. The surgical cassette and drill protocol is highly simplified, for simple stock management and storage. Restoratively, both BLX and TLX systems share a single common conical connection that supports all BLX and TLX implant sizes. This means there is a single scan flag for any BLX or TLX implant, providing for substantial ease in restorative protocols. Utilising the tissue level connection with a 45-degree outer bevel provides for an extremely sound restorative connection and a significant improvement in restorative simplicity for bridge configurations.
What’s not so good
Conventional implant instrumentation protocols will often result in low primary stability. I advise to underprepare the trabecular bone significantly. The implant is aggressively self-tapping and needs no help unless instrumenting the densest of bone.
