Prosthesis mounting device and assembly
AssigneeIntra-Lock International, Inc.
InventorThierry Giorno
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A prosthesis mounting device and assembly for securing a prosthesis on an implant supported in bone tissue. An appendage or “preppable abutment” is carried by a dental implant and is milled or “prepped” into a shape suitable to accept a dental prosthesis such as a crown or bridge. Alternatively the appendage may be cast using a lost-wax investment molding process in which an appendage model is shaped by adding and sculpting wax onto portions of a calcinable appendage and/or removing material from portions of the appendage before using the model to form a mold. In each case the appendage is formed to include a recess that extends axially upwardly from a bottom end of the appendage and is shaped to fit over an O-ring receiver abutment or “O-ball” of a dental implant.
Claims24
A prosthesis mounting assembly for securing a prosthesis on an implant supported in bone tissue, the assembly comprising:
- an implant including a threaded shaft configured to be screwed into bone tissue, an O-ring receiver abutment, and a multi-faceted integral nut attached to and axially extending from an aft end of the shaft;
- an appendage that's configured to be carried by the implant and includes a recess that extends into the appendage from a bottom end of the appendage, the recess including:
- an inner wall having a cylindrical portion shaped to engage and fit closely over the O-ring receiver abutment of the implant, and
- a multi-faceted portion shaped to engage and fit closely around the integral nut of the implant, forming an annular cavity between the recess wall and an undercut portion of the implant that is defined by a lower hemisphere of the O-ring receiver abutment of the implant.
A prosthesis mounting assembly for securing a prosthesis on an implant supported in bone tissue, the assembly comprising:
- an implant including a threaded shaft configured to be screwed into bone tissue and a head axially extending from an aft end of the shaft;
- an appendage that's configured to be carried by the implant and:
- includes a recess that extends into the appendage from a bottom end of the appendage and is shaped to receive the head of the implant;
- comprises calcinable material;
- and
- is configured to support the build-up and sculpting of material to obtain a desired shape to be invested to form a mold for casting a permanent appendage in a material suitable for supporting a dental prosthesis on the implant.
A method for securing a prosthesis on an implant supported in bone tissue, the method including:
- installing an implant in a patient's jaw bone;
- removably supporting on the implant a calcinable appendage comprising calcinable material;
- sculpting the calcinable appendage into a desired dental prosthesis-supporting appendage shape by applying sculptable material to the calcinable appendage and shaping the sculptable material;
- forming an appendage mold by investing the sculpted appendage in refractory material;
- removing the sculpted appendage from the mold;
- casting a permanent appendage by providing suitable material in the mold, allowing the material to harden, and removing the refractory material from the hardened permanent appendage;
- supporting the cast permanent appendage on the implant;
- molding a dental prosthesis to fit on the permanent appendage;
- and
- supporting the dental prosthesis on the permanent appendage.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.