Which country are BioHorizons implants from?

According to the company's own account, BioHorizons was founded in 1994 on research carried out at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The founders include the dentist Carl E. Misch, known for his writing on implant biomechanics, the biomedical engineer Martha Bidez and Todd Strong. Steve Boggan, who ran the company for many years, joined in 1995; today he is one of the people who run Henry Schein's implant businesses.

The answer to the question of which country is the USA. In the FDA's 2023 decision, the manufacturer's address is given as Birmingham, Alabama. The company writes that it has manufactured its implants in the USA since it was founded and keeps research and production in the same country; this is the company's own statement. Where a single implant that reaches you was made is told most definitely by the label on its box.

Ownership changed in 2013. Henry Schein, a NASDAQ-listed healthcare products company based in Melville in the US state of New York, announced on 31 December 2013 that it had acquired 60 per cent of BioHorizons. The announcement said that with this step, together with its investment in the European implant manufacturer CAMLOG, Henry Schein had gained a strong position in the US and German implant markets. Henry Schein's annual report for 2025 also refers to BioHorizons as a business the company acquired in 2014.

Today BioHorizons and Camlog are run together under the roof of BioHorizons Camlog Group, whose head office is in the Swiss city of Basel. This partnership is reflected in the products too: BioHorizons' own product list also includes Camlog's CONELOG and ceramic CERALOG implants; Tapered Pro Conical, as the manufacturer describes it, combines CONELOG's deep conical connection with BioHorizons' Tapered Pro body. In other words, two separate brands within the same group, with a shared design in some products.

The BioHorizons name is most often mentioned together with Laser-Lok. Laser-Lok is a surface made up of regular, micron-scale channels cut by laser into the collar of the implant, the part that meets the gum and the topmost edge of the bone. The manufacturer says that this surface allows the connective tissue to attach physically to the implant, prevents the gum tissue from migrating downwards and so preserves the bone edge. According to the manufacturer, the researcher who first documented this attachment is the periodontist Myron Nevins.

The independent evidence, however, says something narrower. In a 2017 meta-analysis combining 15 human studies and 772 implants, bone loss around implants with a Laser-Lok type collar was significantly lower than around implants with a machined (smooth) collar. But when they were compared with implants with a roughened collar, no significant difference was found. In the rate at which implants stayed in the mouth, no difference emerged in any comparison. The authors write that the variation between the studies was high and that the results need to be read with care.

This puts the sentence 'more effective than other implant designs' on the manufacturer's research page into its proper context: the difference has mostly been shown against the older type of implant with a smooth collar. In a randomised study that followed 78 immediately loaded BioHorizons implants replacing a single missing tooth at the front of the mouth (the comparison group was the same manufacturer's implant without Laser-Lok), bone loss at the end of three years was found to be 0.59 mm on average in the Laser-Lok group and 1.17 mm in the group without Laser-Lok; one implant was lost in each group. Both arms of the study were the same manufacturer's implant.

BioHorizons' lines are conventional two-piece implants that sit inside the bone, and they need sufficient volume in the bone. The outcome, meanwhile, is determined by planning, how the load is spread, smoking and diabetes control and regular maintenance more than by the brand name. The implant used in our protocol of fixed teeth in 72 hours with the Ihde method belongs to a different class: a one-piece corticobasal implant that anchors in the hard outer layer of the jaw.

The points below are not specific to BioHorizons alone; they look at the two-piece implant design that sits inside the bone, and at the design of the collar surface.

If the answers are short and clear, there is a considered choice behind the plan. Every answer that stays vague is a gap you will have to fill in later.

1. 1

   Which line will be used?

   Tapered Pro, Tapered Pro Conical, Tapered Internal, Tapered Plus, Tapered Short or another line. It should be possible to explain the choice in terms of the density, width and height of your bone.

2. 2

   What type of connection?

   A conical internal hex or a deep conical connection, a narrow or a regular platform? The top parts, and every future change of a screw or a part, depend on this answer.

3. 3

   Is it a line with Laser-Lok, and why did you choose it?

   Not all BioHorizons implants have Laser-Lok. If it has been chosen, the reason should be explained in terms of your tissue, in particular the thickness of the gum at the front of the mouth.

4. 4

   Are the top parts original?

   The manufacturer's own parts and parts that other firms sell as compatible are not the same thing. You should be told which is being used, and it should be put on record.

5. 5

   Can I see the barcode on the label?

   Medical devices put on the market in Turkey must be registered in the Product Tracking System (ÜTS). The number on the label shows the product's manufacturer and its registration; this is a more concrete check than anything you hear said about the brand.

If the first four points below are in place, the difference between brands narrows; if they are not, no surface technology makes up for the gap.

A strong story about a surface and a group with two brands produce a few misleading shortcuts online.

Nobody asks for these documents today; but years from now, in another dentist's chair, they will be the first thing you are asked for.

1. An implant card with the line and the connection

   The card should say more than just 'BioHorizons': it should give the line name, the connection and platform, the diameter, the length and the lot number. If anything is missing, ask the clinic that carried out the treatment to complete it.

2. A copy of the barcode

   The barcode on the product label carries the number that identifies the implant in ÜTS. Keep it together with your card.

3. The X-ray from the first day

   The X-ray that shows where your bone level was at the start. Only by comparing against this X-ray can you see what has become, in your case, of the bone preservation that Laser-Lok promises.

4. The type of top part

   Whether it is the manufacturer's own part, a compatible product or patient-specific. When a screw or a top part is changed, this information speeds up finding the right replacement.

The implant's country or surface does not explain the difference in a quote on its own. The total is made up of these items:

Choice of line and body

Within the same brand, the lines can differ in cost. Check which line is written in the quote; the phrase 'BioHorizons implant' is not enough on its own.

Top parts

An original part, a compatible product or a patient-specific part. In multi-unit plans this choice can make more difference than the implant body.

The prosthesis and laboratory work

In full-mouth plans, the material and workmanship of the bridgework make up most of the total.

Preparatory procedures and later maintenance

A graft, a sinus procedure or extractions are separate items. The burden of repairs over the years depends on how easily the part can be found in the country where you live.