Irregular alumina (IAl 2 O 3 ) is widely used in the procedure of sandblasting with large grit and acid-etching (SLA) which has been confirmed as a favorable surface treatment for implant to improve osseointegration. However, IAl 2 O 3 with cytotoxic has been found residual on implant surfaces after modification and thought to be a potential threaten to implants' long-term survival. Due to its similar shape and excellent biocompatibility, irregular zirconia (IZrO 2 ) was used as sandblast particle in the present study to compare the different characteristic between IZrO 2 SLA and IAl 2 O 3 SLA surfaces. SEM, optical profilometry and XRF analysis were performed for comparison of surface characteristic. Combined with acid-etching, IZrO 2 could generate suitable primary and secondary roughness with, respectively, 1030 µm pits and 13 µm micro pits. Three-dimensional roughness parameters (S a , S z , S dr and S ds ) revealed that because of the lower Vickers hardness and higher Specific gravity of IZrO 2 , IZrO 2 SLA surface was less rough than IAl 2 O 3 SLA surface. Meanwhile, resulted from its different physical properties, IZrO 2 (0.13 « 0.07%) was detected significantly less on IZrO 2 SLA surface than IAl 2 O 3 (6.74 « 0.74%) on IAl 2 O 3 SLA surface. Therefore, IZrO 2 SLA could easily prepare titanium surface with suitable multi-level morphology and moderate roughness for osseointegration. Furthermore, fewer sandblast particles residual on IZrO 2 SLA surface, worries from harmful residue could be greatly reduced due to the biocompatibility of IZrO 2 .