The need for better implant materials was a stimulus for the increa sing knowledge of Biomaterial Scientists. Different surgical disciplines were very successful in the use of prostheses, especially because they based their surgery on a good cooperation with fundamental scientists. The use of alloplastic implant materials in the reconstruction of the middle ear has not always been successful. We all know the initial suc cess in the sixties and the disappointments after short term follow-up periods. Because of these failures, Otology missed contact with the new developments in Biomaterial...