Most patients comparing dental implants abroad look at the brand name and stop there. But within the Straumann range there is a premium option that changes something more important than the badge: how fast your dental implant heals. It is called SLActive, and Smile Dental Turkey now offers the Straumann SLActive dental implant with abutment at £788 with cash payment (£875 by card) — compared with £2,500 or more at UK private clinics offering the same system.
What Is the Straumann SLActive Surface?
Every dental implant succeeds or fails at the same place: the surface where titanium meets your jawbone. Straumann’s standard SLA surface — sandblasted and acid-etched — has been one of the best-documented implant surfaces in dentistry for over two decades. SLActive is the evolution of that surface: it is chemically activated and stored in a saline solution rather than in dry air, which keeps the titanium surface hydrophilic — meaning your blood wets and covers it instantly at the moment of placement.
That instant wetting matters. The sooner blood proteins and bone-forming cells attach to the implant surface, the sooner osseointegration — the fusing of implant and bone — begins. With a conventional surface, the first days after surgery are a waiting game. With SLActive, the biological response starts immediately.
The Practical Benefit: A Shorter Healing Window
In Straumann’s clinical documentation, the SLActive surface reduces the typical osseointegration period from around 6–8 weeks to as little as 3–4 weeks in favourable conditions. For our international patients, that can make a real difference to treatment planning: a shorter gap between implant placement and the fitting of your permanent dental crowns means less time in temporaries and, in suitable cases, an earlier second visit to Antalya.
Published long-term studies on the SLActive surface report survival rates of over 97% at ten years — including in patients whose healing conditions are less than ideal.
Who Benefits Most From SLActive?
For a healthy non-smoker with good bone, a standard Straumann or Neodent dental implant already offers excellent, well-documented success rates — and we will tell you honestly when the premium surface is not worth the extra cost. SLActive earns its price in the harder cases:
- Smokers, whose healing capacity is measurably reduced;
- Patients with controlled diabetes or other conditions that slow bone healing;
- Sites with bone grafting or sinus lifts, where every advantage in early bone formation counts;
- Patients who want the shortest possible treatment timeline between visits.
Whether SLActive is clinically worthwhile in your case is exactly the kind of judgement our lead oral surgeon, Özkan Özkaynak, D.D.S., Ph.D., makes from your X-rays and 3D scan before you travel — never as an upsell in the chair.
SLActive vs Our Other Dental Implant Options
All prices below are per dental implant including the abutment, at our Antalya clinic:
| Implant system | With cash payment | By card | Best suited for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neodent (Straumann Group) | £392 | £436 | Excellent value, proven system |
| Nobel Biocare | £538 | £598 | Premium global brand |
| Straumann (SLA) | £632 | £702 | The gold-standard surface |
| Straumann SLActive | £788 | £875 | Fastest healing, compromised-healing cases |
For a deeper comparison of the brands themselves, see our guide to Neodent vs Nobel Biocare vs Straumann, and our full dental treatment prices in Turkey.
SLActive Cost: UK vs Turkey
At UK private clinics, a single Straumann dental implant is typically quoted at £2,000–£3,500, with the SLActive surface at the upper end of that range. The same SLActive implant, placed by a PhD-level oral surgeon at our AACI-accredited Antalya clinic, is £788 with cash payment — a saving of 60–70%, with the identical Swiss-made component. Every dental implant we place is covered by our lifetime implant guarantee.
Treatment plans over £3,250 also unlock our all-inclusive Turkey teeth packages — 6 nights’ hotel, VIP transfers and flight support included.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is SLActive worth the extra cost over a standard Straumann implant?
If you are a healthy non-smoker with good bone volume, usually not — the standard surface already performs excellently. If you smoke, have diabetes, need bone grafting, or want the shortest healing window, the faster and more predictable early healing of SLActive is a meaningful clinical advantage. We advise case by case, from your scans.
How long does a Straumann SLActive implant take to heal?
Osseointegration can be complete in as little as 3–4 weeks in favourable conditions, versus 6–8 weeks for conventional surfaces. Your personal timeline is confirmed after your 3D scan and may be longer where bone grafting is involved.
Is the SLActive implant you place in Turkey the same product as in the UK?
Yes — identical Swiss-manufactured Straumann components, with the implant passport to prove it. You fly home with the brand, size and batch number documented, so any UK dentist can identify and service the system.
How much does a full mouth of SLActive implants cost?
Full-arch cases are usually planned as All-on-4 or All-on-6 systems, where we would discuss whether SLActive is appropriate for your case. Start with our dental implants in Turkey page or request a personalised quote.
Find Out If SLActive Is Right for You
Send us your photos and any recent X-rays through our free online dental consultation — our surgical team will assess your bone condition, tell you honestly whether SLActive is worth it in your case, and send back an itemised quote with no obligation.
Özkan Özkaynak D.D.S., Ph.D. is an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at Smile Dental Turkey, bringing over two decades of surgical expertise to our team. He earned both his D.D.S. and Ph.D. in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery from Ankara University, and previously served as an Assistant Professor at Karadeniz Teknik Üniversitesi before joining Smile Dental Turkey in 2010.
His surgical expertise covers advanced dental implants, bone grafting, and complex wisdom tooth extractions. He has also contributed to several peer-reviewed journals in his field.
Dr. Özkaynak is a native Turkish speaker with a B2 level of English.
