The results represent a significant milestone for ceramic implantology, providing highly relevant, practice-oriented, and forward-looking foundations for the integration of ceramic implants into modern, patient-centered treatment strategies in biological dentistry.

In parallel with the conference, participants presented selected clinical cases. These will be published as part of a subsequent book project and are intended to serve as practical clinical guidelines for professionals in the field of biological implantology.

A key insight for the ICBI Board was that numerous studies from the primary literature could not be included in the systematic reviews of the Consensus Conference due to heterogeneous study designs, differing measurement methods, and inconsistent terminology. The ratio between the studies initially reviewed and those ultimately included was approximately 1 to 100 – a remarkable and at the same time alarming finding.

This observation highlights a significant lack of robust scientific evidence. The development of a standardized, efficient study protocol and a unified terminology within ceramic implantology is therefore of central importance. Only on this basis can future research projects yield valid, comparable, and reproducible results.

Empirical observations indicate that zirconia implants demonstrate substantially better outcomes regarding the prevalence of peri-implant inflammation compared to titanium implants. However, for these promising clinical observations, a solid scientific evidence base is still lacking.

The systematic collection of corresponding data and the initiation of coordinated research projects therefore represent the next crucial step in the advancement of ceramic implantology (see “Current Projects”).

A total of eight scientific and eight clinical core statements were adopted. These are currently being consolidated and prepared for publication in a leading peer-reviewed implantology journal.

Scientific Arm
The scientific committee included:
Dr. Amerian Sones (Texas University) as US Chair,
Dr. Norbert Cionca (Université de Genève) as EU Chair,
Dr. David Kim (Harvard Dental School) as Co-Chair,
as well as Prof. Dr. Georgios Romanos (Stony Brook University),
Dr. Marc Balmer (University of Zurich, UZH),
Dr. Rafael Delgado-Ruiz (also Stony Brook University),
Prof. Dr. Etyene Schnurr,
Dr. Aspasia Pachiou (also University of Zurich, UZH),
Prof. Dr. Florian Beuer (Charité University Medicine Berlin),
Prof. Dr. Nadim Baba (Loma Linda University),
Prof. Dr. Bilal Al-Nawas (University Medical Center Mainz),
Dr. Zhen Mao (Charité University Medicine Berlin),
Prof. Dr. Jörg Neugebauer (Max Planck Institute),
Dr. Alex Lin (UCSF Dental Center),
Dr. Jeff Ganeles,
Prof. Dr. Shahram Ghanaati (University Hospital Frankfurt),
Dr. Jennifer Chen,
Prof. Dr. Nadja Rohr (University Center for Dental Medicine Basel, UZB),
Dr. Amirali Zandinejad (Texas A&M College of Dentistry),
Dr. Dena Hashim,
and Dr. Karol Alí Apaza.

Clinical Arm
Participants included:
Dr. Karl-Ulrich Volz, founder of modern ceramic implantology,
Dr. Gregor Hočevar (Slovenia),
Dr. Luis Gustavo Zimmerman (Brazil),
Dr. Henriette Lerner (Germany),
Dr. Andrés Fernández (Costa Rica),
Dr. Ilian Dargel (Netherlands),
Dr. Fabian Schick (Germany),
and Dr. Rodrigo Beltrao (Brazil).