Attachment system for removable dental prosthesis and dental implant abutment

A kit for attaching a removable dental prosthesis to an endosseous dental implant, the removable dental prosthesis having a body defining a gum receiving cavity;

• the kit comprising:
• an attachment bar embeddable within the body of the dental prosthesis, the attachment bar comprising a plurality of spaced-apart dental prosthesis portions and at least one connecting segment physically connecting a respective one of the dental prosthesis portions to an adjacent one of the dental prosthesis portions, each one of the dental prosthesis portions comprising a dental prosthesis sleeve open at one end and closed at an opposed end and having an inner cavity lined with a retention material defining an inner peripheral wall having at least one of a protrusion and a recess, the inner cavities of the dental prosthesis sleeves being spaced apart from one another, the body of the removable dental prosthesis being moldable around the at least one connecting segment and the dental prosthesis portions being spaced-apart from one another with a portion of the removable dental prosthesis extending between adjacent ones of the dental prosthesis portions, the inner cavities being accessible through the open end opened in the gum receiving cavity of the removable dental prosthesis and the at least one connecting segment being embedded in the body of the removable dental prosthesis;
• and
• a plurality of dental implant portions securable to the endosseous dental implant and removably engageable with each one of the dental prosthesis portions, the dental implant portion comprising an attachment pillar sized and shaped for removably fitting within the inner cavity of a corresponding one of the dental prosthesis sleeves, the attachment pillar having a peripheral wall provided with at least one of a protrusion and a recess removably interlockable by a friction fit with the at least one of the recess and the protrusion on the inner peripheral wall of a corresponding one of the inner cavities.

A patient-specific dental prosthesis attachment system for engaging a removable dental prosthesis to a patient's dental implant, the dental prosthesis attachment system comprising:

• an attachment bar permanently embedded in a body of the dental prosthesis, the attachment bar comprising a plurality of spaced-apart dental prosthesis portions and at least one connecting segment physically connecting a respective one of the dental prosthesis portions to an adjacent one of the dental prosthesis portions, the at least one connecting segment being surrounded by the body of the dental prosthesis, each one of the dental prosthesis portions comprising a dental prosthesis sleeve open at one end and closed at an opposed end, and the dental sleeve comprising an outer rigid sleeve and an inner flexible sleeve removably fitted in the outer rigid sleeve with a closed figure shape access port at the open end opened in a gum receiving cavity of the dental prosthesis body, wherein the dental prosthesis portions extend substantially parallel to one another;
• and
• a plurality of implant abutments, each one of the implant abutments having a body with a base portion extending along a base portion axis, a head portion extending along a head portion axis, and an attachment pillar protruding from the head portion and at least one of the attachment pillars extending along the head portion axis at an oblique angle with respect to the base portion axis, the base portion being securable to the patient's dental implant with the head portion axes of the attachment pillars extending substantially parallel to one another when secured to the patient's dental implant, and the attachment pillar being removably engageable by a friction fit with a corresponding one of the dental prosthesis portions through the corresponding one of the dental prosthesis sleeves.

A dental prosthesis system comprising:

• a removable dental prosthesis comprising a body defining a gum receiving cavity;
• an attachment bar permanently embedded in a body of the dental prosthesis, the attachment bar comprising a plurality of dental prosthesis portions and at least one connecting segment physically connecting a respective one of the dental prosthesis portion to an adjacent one of the dental prosthesis portions, the at least one connecting segment being surrounded by the body of the dental prosthesis, the dental prosthesis portions being spaced-apart from one another with a portion of the body of the removable dental prosthesis extending between adjacent ones of the dental prosthesis portions, each one of the dental prosthesis portions comprising a dental prosthesis sleeve open at one end and closed at an opposed end and defining an inner cavity and having a central axis, the dental prosthesis sleeve comprising an outer rigid sleeve and an inner flexible sleeve removably fitted in the outer rigid sleeve, the inner flexible sleeve defining an inner peripheral wall having at least one of a protrusion and a recess, the inner cavities of the dental prosthesis sleeves having a closed figure shape access port at the open end and opened in and accessible through the gum receiving cavity of the removable dental prosthesis, the central axes of the open-ended dental prosthesis sleeves extending substantially parallel to one another;
• and
• a plurality of dental implant portions securable to at least one endosseous dental implant and removably engageable with the dental prosthesis portions, each one of the dental implant portions comprising an attachment pillar having a central axis and being removably insertable within the inner cavity of a corresponding one of the dental prosthesis sleeves and being retained in the inner cavity by a friction fit, the central axes of the attachment pillars extending substantially parallel to one another.

A method for designing a dental prosthesis system, the method comprising the steps of:

• obtaining a model of a patient's mouth including dental implants;
• determining an implant orientation for each one of the patient's dental implants;
• determining a correction orientation for each one of the dental implants, the correction orientation corresponding to a difference between the implant orientation and an aligned orientation of each one of the dental implants, the aligned orientation being an orientation at which the dental implants extend substantially parallel to one another;
• designing an implant abutment for each one of the dental implants, each one of the implant abutments comprising a body with a base portion extending along a base portion axis and a head portion extending along a head portion axis, the base portion being securable to a respective one of the dental implants, wherein, for each one of the implant abutments, an angle between the head portion axis and the base portion axis corresponds to a respective one of the correction orientations;
• and
• designing a dental prosthesis comprising a body defining a gum receiving cavity and having a plurality of dental prosthesis portions and at least one connecting segment physically connecting a respective one of the dental prosthesis portion to an adjacent one of the dental prosthesis portions, the at least one connecting segment being surrounded by the body of the dental prosthesis, each one of the dental prosthesis portions being associated to a corresponding one of the implant abutments and comprising a dental prosthesis sleeve having a central axis and an inner cavity extending between an open end and a closed end, wherein designing the dental prosthesis further comprises aligning each one of the dental prosthesis sleeves with the corresponding one of the implant abutments with the central axes of the dental prosthesis sleeves extending substantially parallel to one another with the inner cavities being accessible through the open end opened in the gum receiving cavity of the dental prosthesis for removably engaging with the head portion of the corresponding one of the implant abutments.