Glazing of alumina substrates was performed in order to prepare bioactive glass-ceramic coatings for biomedical applications. The coating material was a fluoroapatite-containing glass-ceramic (SAF) with a good degree of bioactivity. A careful optimisation of the coating conditions was carried out. The obtained coatings were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), compositional analysis (EDS), X-Ray diffraction (XRD), and in vitro tests (soaking into a simulated body fluid). Direct firing of SAF powders on the ceramic substrates gave unsatisfactory results in terms of crack propagation and bioactivity, due to the nucleation of a non-bioactive Al-rich phase (leucite) with high linear expansion coefficient. The use of an intermediate layer based on a SiO2-CaO glass (SC) was necessary in order to avoid Al ions diffusion through the coating and thus the formation of undesired additional phases. The coatings obtained with the optimised processing parameters resulted to be adherent, defect-free, and characterized by unchanged composition and structure as well as unmodified bioactivity if compared with the bulk SAF glass-ceramic. (C) 2005 Springer Science + Business Media, Inc.