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Dental implant

Dental implant description/claims

The invention disclosed herein relates generally to dental implants for fixed and removable prosthetic devices and to fixed and removable prosthetic devices including such implants.

Implant dentistry dates back at least to the 1970s. See, e.g., Principles and Practice of Implant Dentistry, by Charles M. Weiss and Adam Weiss, Mosby Inc., 2001.

The invention provides dental implants for fixed and removable prosthetic devices and to fixed and removable prosthetic devices including such implants, and has application to, but is not limited to, one or more of the following: single tooth replacement, e.g., caps and crowns; multiple tooth replacement using one or more implants, e.g., bridges; and multiple implants for full and partial prosthetic devices. Embodiments of dental implants incorporating the invention may be installed in single or multiple root teeth locations.

Dental implants according to embodiments of the invention comprise a post or posts inserted into the jawbone extending therefrom towards the opposing jawbone, and a stabilizer that is loaded, in the general area of the gum line, against the jawbone, directly or indirectly through gum tissue, using the post or posts. The term loaded or loadable against the jawbone is meant in a broad sense and encompasses loading of the stabilizer against the jawbone in direct contact therewith or through gum tissue. According to some embodiments, the stabilizer is loaded against the jawbone by a force or forces derived from anchoring of the post or posts in the jawbone. For example, the stabilizer may be urged in compression against the jawbone via a tensile force applied to the post or posts. Implants according to the embodiments of the invention incorporating such stabilizers provide sufficient supporting surface area for a prosthetic device even where the size of the post(s) is relatively small, e.g., typically smaller than that of a post previously used for an implant at a particular implant location.

According to some embodiments, the stabilizer is configured to fit snugly into the implant location at the gum line, so as to be loadable against the jawbone. For example, the stabilizer is configured to fit in a space or cavity at the concerned implant location in the mouth, created by the absence of a tooth, or otherwise, loaded against the jawbone at the gum line. The term implant location is meant in a broad sense and corresponds at least generally to the location of a tooth formerly in the mouth. For example, the implant may be centered more or less in the location formerly occupied by a tooth, although the implant location may be offset from the center of the location of a tooth formerly in the mouth, e.g., where the space or cavity formerly occupied by the tooth is large or the implant is to be inserted where two or more adjacent teeth were formerly in the mouth.

Various configurations of stabilizers may be used, and the particular configuration corresponds generally to a cross-sectional slice of the tooth formerly at the implant location, e.g., such that the stabilizer occupies a substantial surface area, e.g., all or most of the surface area, occupied by the tooth at the gum line at the implant location. The surface area of the stabilizer is approximately that of the space or cavity at the gum line, i.e., the surface area of the tooth formerly at the implant location at the gum line. The thickness of the stabilizer is sufficient to withstand the compressive force(s) loading the stabilizer against the jawbone and to stabilize a prosthetic device attached to the implant. Also, according to some embodiments of the invention, the prosthesis extends over the stabilizer, which should have sufficient thickness to permit this.

In the illustrated embodiments, the stabilizer comprises a platform that includes opposed parallel major sides and at least one minor side transverse to the major sides, e.g., may have a generally solid rectangular configuration. The platform may be rectangular or trapezoidal in cross section, or may have other cross-sectional shapes.

According to some embodiments of the invention, the stabilizer is secured to the post, loaded against the jawbone, by a fastener system. In one embodiment, the platform includes a hole for each post, and a respective post is received in a respective hole and attached to the platform by the fastener system.

A dental implant according to some embodiments of the invention comprises at least one post which is inserted into a patient's jawbone extending towards the opposing jawbone and a stabilizer including a major side and a hole in the major side for each post of the dental implant. The relative sizes of each post and the stabilizer are such that a transverse dimension of the major side of a stabilizer is substantially larger than a largest transverse dimension, e.g., a diameter, of any of the posts at the location at which the particular post passes through a hole. Each hole and a portion of a corresponding post which in use would be received in a hole comprise complementary configurations. The configuration of a respective hole and the configuration of a respective post preferably provides but does not have to provide a snug fit, e.g., a tight or interference fit. The implant also includes a fastener system which, in use of the dental implant, secures the platform to at least one post loaded against the jawbone.

Any suitable post and any suitable insertion methodology may be used. For example, in the illustrated embodiments, each post includes a screw thread extending along at least the portion of the post which is to be threaded into the jawbone. In some embodiments, the threaded portion is circular in cross section, and the post diameter may be tapered. In these embodiments, each post is secured to the jawbone at least using the screw thread thereof with a free end of the respective post extending from the jawbone, and the stabilizer is positioned to receive a respective post in a respective hole with the major side of the stabilizer extending transverse to an axis of the post. In these embodiments. The free end of at least one post extends beyond the major side of the stabilizer and the at least one post and the stabilizer are secured by the fastener system and a portion or portions of the dental implant extend beyond the major surface of the platform as to be able to receive a prosthetic device.

In some embodiments, as mentioned above, the stabilizer comprises a platform including opposed parallel major sides and at least one minor side, where the at least one hole extends through the major sides. In the installed condition of the implant, the at least one post passes through the at least one hole with its free end extending beyond an adjacent major side of the platform.

In some embodiments, the implant includes at least one anchor which is attached to the implant projecting from the stabilizer or platform and adapted to assist in securing a prosthetic device to the dental implant.

Dental implants according to some embodiments of the invention may be installed at locations formerly occupied by teeth having one root or a plurality of roots. Generally, a post is inserted for each root at that location, and the platform has a hole for each post.

A method according to an embodiment of the invention for installing a dental implant of the type disclosed herein comprises providing a hole in a jawbone for each post of the implant positioned to be alignable with each hole in a stabilizer, installing the stabilizer with a free end of a respective post extending from a respective jawbone hole toward the opposing jawbone a distance sufficient to enter a respective hole in the stabilizer while the stabilizer contacts the jawbone or gum tissue adjacent thereto at the gum line. In an embodiment in which the stabilizer is to be installed in direct contact with the jawbone, the gum at the gum line is cut away to expose the jawbone and provide access thereto for the stabilizer to directly contact the jawbone. The stabilizer is mounted with each post received in a respective hole in the stabilizer and the stabilizer in contact with jawbone at the gum line (or gum tissue adjacent thereto), and the stabilizer is attached to the at least one post with the stabilizer loaded against the jawbone, e.g., by a fastener system.

According to some embodiments, the fastener system used to attach the stabilizer to the at least one post, includes a threaded nut for each post and a correspondingly threaded portion of the respective post.

The invention is illustrated in the figures of the accompanying drawings, which are meant to be exemplary and not limiting, and in which like references are intended to refer to like or corresponding parts.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a dental implant according to an embodiment of the invention.

• Provisional Patent
• Utility Patent

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