Ceramic-on-polyethylene
wear couple
High risk of wear and osteolysis with metal ball heads
Clinical results show that, regardless of the prosthesis system used, the polyethylene wear rate, when metal ball heads are used, is more than 0.2 mm per year. Scratches on the surface of a metal ball head lead to a further increase in the polyethylene wear rate. Such scratches can occur during the implantation process or during actual clinical use. The resulting polyethylene wear rate can be up to 30-times higher than when an undamaged metal ball head is used, as has been shown in laboratory experiments.
Longer implant lifetime with ceramic ball heads
Ceramic ball heads reduce the polyethylene wear to significantly less than 0.1 mm per year. In contrast to metal ball heads, ceramic ball heads cannot be scratched. The combination of BIOLOX®forte with polyethylene reduces the rate of loosening, the rate of revision and the rate of associated complications by 2 to 5 times compared with a metal-on-polyethylene combination.