The osseointegration method developed by Brånemark offers new perspectives in the rehabilitation of partial and total edentulism in cooperation with the prosthodontist or general practitioner. The success rates over 90 and even 95 per cent in the upper and lower jaws, respectively, have been confirmed by several teams on series of consecutive patients. Ongoing research will allow discrimination between those systems that really osseointegrate predictably and those that do this irregularly or only demonstrate a close bone apposition. There is an urgent need for follow-up studies on consecutive patients of 5 or preferably 10 years before unrestricted clinical applications are granted. There are attractive research perspectives offered by the osseointegration principle in the field of periodontology. Fundamental questions concerning bacterial colonization of hard surfaces in the oral cavity, epithelial downgrowth, ankylosis, and others can be addressed and extrapolated to the treatment of periodontal pathologies around teeth.