The search for new biomaterials and biocompatible metals has always been a common objective of human rehabilitation research centers. In implant dentistry, titanium has successfully established itself as the material of choice for dental implants. However, several studies have reported cases of metal allergy caused by titanium-containing materials [15–17] and some immune dysfunctions in certain patients chronically exposed to this reactive metal [17]. Because of such constraints, research has turned once again to tantalum, a high biocompatible, inert, corrosion resistant metal that began to be studied in the [3] 1940s. Implantology research became interested in this metal in the 1960s, but the feedback from implant dentistry was not positive at all. Factors such as high costs and implant design prevented tantalum from being widely accepted, and, therefore, its use was not as successful as titanium’s.

Interestingly, despite limited tantalum use in orthopedic implant devices [3], this metal has been used for prostheses in Medical Orthopedics until today. In implant dentistry specifically, the role of tantalum has been changing due to certain factors. Firstly, its price is no longer a constraint because the demand for this metal in other technologies has increased, and new source areas were discovered like, for example, the tantalum ore in Brazil in 2008, which proved to be the biggest reserve of tantalum in the world [18]. Secondly, the low success rate reached previously is related to the fact that tantalum was the pioneer metal for implantology and it was, consequently, affected by the burden of innovation. The first tantalum dental implants did not have appropriate stability, and at that time, the knowledge about factors associated with good implant installation procedures and biomechanical aspects was not as advanced as it is today. The process of osseointegration, for example, was first described by Professor Bränemark only in 1977 [19]. Thirdly, there is a recent trend in research and development of titanium alloys specifically for biomedical applications that addresses concerns with toxic effects of the dissolution of aluminum and vanadium ions into the host tissue as a result of corrosion wear of titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V) [2]. In addition, chemical inertness and biocompatibility of Ta, similar to titanium’s and its oxides, as a result of Ta oxides forming on the surface of Ta, add positively to the abovementioned factors. An oxide layer of Ta can form on the metal surface immediately after the surface is exposed to oxygen, because Ta is highly reactive to oxygen [3].