Newer Materials in Hip Replacement
There has been a lot of research going on to find out an ideal material with which the artificial joint can be made, which will last forever. Researchers started using a material called ceramic in the mid, late 90's and this has become a boon to younger patients needing total hip replacement. Ceramic is very hard and scratch resistant. The wear property of this material compared to the traditionally used metal on poly ethylene is about 1400 times superior.
Therefore a well performed hip replacement with this material should last any one's life time. In the traditional metal on plastic, the plastic wears slowly over time, and as the plastic wears out small particles of plastic debris develop. This triggers response by the body which can lead to loosening of the joint implant over time. This causes pain and leads on to revision surgery. In ceramic hips the amounts of wear is negligible. Another new material which has recently been introduced is oxinium, which also has superior wear properties compared to traditional metal alloys.