Four implant systems, and what the word on the surface actually refers to
SLA, BA, VUV, SOI. These are surface treatments, not quality grades, and the difference between them is a claim about how fast bone attaches, which is checkable.
How it is done here ONE Dental Clinic
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ONE Dental keeps four fixture ranges: Point, DIO, DIO VUV and Osstem. Consultation material tends to present them as a ladder with “premium” at the top. They are better understood as different surface chemistries, each with a specific claim attached.
The surface is the product
Every modern fixture is titanium and every modern fixture is threaded. What manufacturers actually compete on is the outermost few microns, because that is what bone cells meet. A rougher, more wettable surface attaches faster. Faster attachment is the claim behind every name below.
S.L.A. is sandblasted, large-grit, acid-etched: the long-established roughened surface, used on the Point fixtures. The clinic describes it as suitable for most cases.
BA adds a low-crystalline nano-hydroxyapatite coating, hydroxyapatite being the mineral bone is largely made of.
VUV is DIO’s ultraviolet photocatalytic treatment. Titanium accumulates hydrocarbon from the air, which makes it less wettable with age; UV strips it. This is why the manufacturer’s material talks about an “anti-ageing” effect. It is a claim about the fixture on the shelf, not about the patient.
SOI is Osstem’s coating intended to promote blood clot formation on the surface, pulling osteoblasts and their proteins in.
Who each one is recommended for
The clinic recommends the DIO and Osstem surfaces for patients whose healing is likely to be slower: high cholesterol or blood pressure, systemic disease, thin gum bone, ageing gum tissue, fragile gum tissue, and cases where nerve and bone are close together. That is a clinical rationale rather than a price tier, and it is the right question to ask about your own case.
- Point
- S.L.A. surface. Most cases.
- DIO
- HSA surface treatment; manufacturer states 49% faster bone formation activity.
- DIO VUV
- UV photocatalytic surface. Stated for the hardest cases.
- Osstem SOI
- Coated to promote clot formation. Stated as the clinic’s top grade.
- Also held
- Osstem BA, Osstem MS mini, DIO VUV short.
Clinical photographs
This article is information, not medical advice, and reading it does not create a doctor-patient relationship. The Seoul Glow is a registered facilitator: we coordinate care, we do not practise medicine and we do not decide what treatment is right for you. No outcome can be guaranteed by anyone. Discuss any procedure with a licensed physician who has examined you.
