US 4,544,358 AGranted

Denture fixtures

OwnerJose T. Monteroinventor

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Abstract

Denture fixture for connecting a denture to an existing tooth in a patient's mouth. The denture fixture includes an anchorage permanently joined to the denture and retention means mounted to a tooth and formed to interlock with anchoring means extending from the anchorage. The anchoring means includes two projecting stems arranged in an approximately horizontal plane. One stem has an enlarged end for mating with an aperture in the retention means; the other stem mates with a groove on one side of the retention means. The apparatus has a low profile and is easily hidden from view. The denture is securely but flexibly positioned in the patient's mouth, is conveniently manufactured, and has no mechanism which can be obstructed by bits of food. The apparatus is not retained in position by forces exerted against the tooth and thus reduces wear on the tooth and the denture.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A denture fixture for positioning and stabilizing a denture to a tooth, the tooth being adjacent the denture and embedded in gums and having a substantially upright tooth axis, the denture fixture comprising:

anchoring means affixed to the denture and having first and second stems resiliently extending from the denture toward the tooth, the first stem including a reduced diameter section and an enlarged portion spaced apart from the denture, and the second stem being in parallel, spaced apart relationship to the first stem and lying in a substantially horizontal plane which includes the first stem;
and
retention means mounted to the tooth in the region of the gums and extending toward the denture over the gums to a retention means end, the retention means having:
a substantially cylindrical aperture for receiving the enlarged portion of the first stem, the cylindrical aperture being aligned approximately parallel to the tooth,
a first channel extending between the aperture and the retention means end and being formed to receive a section of the first stem located between the enlarged portion and the denture, and
a longitudinal second channel substantially parallel to and spaced apart from the first channel for receiving a portion of the second stem.

3 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.