**5. Concluding remarks**

As stated in previous sections, even though titanium and titanium alloys are the material of choice for dental implants, they are not without drawbacks. Among the possible issues, for instance, the hypersensitivity in allergic patients and some aesthetic concerns deserve atten‐ tion. To address these problems, ceramics have been introduced to the market in the last decades. Y-TZP was first proposed owing to its biocompatibility, white *root-like* color and low plaque affinity. More recently, oxidic composites containing variable amounts of zirconium oxide such as zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) and especially alumina-toughened zirconia (AZT) were recently considered an improved alternative to Y-TZP. These implants seem very suitable to replace the anterior teeth to avoid the formation of dark shimmer in the presence of thin gingival biotype. However, one-piece ceramic implants may be more difficult to place than two-pieces titanium implants if angulated abutments are required.

Nevertheless, the demand of non-metallic materials endowed with high mechanical features is prompting research and industry to explore also ceramics such as silicon nitride. This non-oxidic material, whose use is almost completely limited to orthopedics in the biomedi‐ cal field, possesses really promising quality even for dental application. The possibility to dope silicon nitride with titanium nitride, thus rendering it electroconductive, enables a range of manufacturing processes like the electro discharge machining. This opens compel‐ ling perspectives in the future as biomaterials are supposed to be increasingly customizable, maneuverable, and adaptable to the particular necessity of the single case, possibly entering the digital *work-flow*.
