Method for vertical positioning of dental implants

A method for vertically positioning a dental implant, said implant comprising an implant upper portion, an implant margin, and an implant lower portion that includes an implant collar with a conical taper, comprising the steps of:

• providing an implant positioning device comprising a device upper portion, and a device lower portion having a device collar and substantially the same external geometric shape and dimensions as those of the implant lower portion but without external screw threads or other mechanical features for anchoring the implant in the jawbone;
• drilling a hole, of the diameter needed to fit the implant, at a predetermined location in the jawbone to a depth short of that expected to be required;
• countersinking the hole to provide a countersunk area having a taper that matches the conical taper of the implant collar;
• inserting the implant positioning device into the hole until the bottom end of the positioning device bottoms out at the bottom of the hole;
• inspecting the device margin location and the gap existing between the hole countersunk area and the device collar;
• estimating the additional hole depth required;
• removing the implant positioning device from the hole;
• drilling the hole deeper;
• and
• repeating the steps of inserting the implant positioning device, inspecting the device margin location and the gap existing between the hole countersunk area and the device collar, estimating the additional hole depth required, removing the implant positioning device, and drilling the hole deeper, until no substantial gap exists between the hole countersunk area and the device collar.