Dental implant fixture
AssigneeOsteoMed LLC
InventorsCharles D. Kownacki, Wade W. Prescott, Rick A. Buss
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A self-tapping dental prosthetic implant has a blunt leading end, a tapered first section which has a uniform minor diameter and a uniformly increasing major diameter, a second section having uniform minor and major thread diameters, a third section with a uniform major thread diameter and a outwardly tapering minor diameter and a fourth section which has a diameter larger than any other segment and a relatively low profile (i.e., short axial length). A thread-cutting groove extends over a substantial portion of the threaded length of the implant. A stepped drill with a tip having a large included angle is used to drill a pilot hole permitting anchoring in the proximate and distal portions of cortical bone by the threaded implant.
Claims8
A self-tapping implantable dental fixture used to secure a dental prosthesis in a patient's jaw comprising
- a) a generally cylindrical member;
- b) a substantially blunt end on said cylindrical member;
- c) a threaded region on an external periphery of said cylindrical member extending throughout a substantial portion of said member's length, a major portion of said threaded region having a thread with a uniform major diameter, said threaded region having a segment with a tapering minor diameter over a major portion of its length such that said thread has a varying height throughout said segment;
- d) a plurality of thread-cutting slots cut substantially radially into said threads substantially throughout a significant portion of the length of said threaded region for tapping a receiving thread in a patient's jaw bone;
- e) a highly polished collar portion formed above said threaded region adjacent thereto, said collar portion having a diameter which slightly exceeds said uniform major diameter of said threaded region;
- whereby said thread-cutting slots which are formed on a trailing portion of said threaded region enlarge a hole in an upper cortical bone and said highly polished collar portion serves to seal an uppermost opening in said jaw bone against micro-migration.
A process for installing a dental prosthetic implant in a jaw bone comprising the steps of
- a) drilling a stepped hole into said jaw bone, said stepped hole having a leading portion having a first diameter and a trailing portion with a second greater diameter, said first leading portion extending through a cancellous bone portion into a first distal corticular bone portion and the second trailing portion extending out of said cancellous bone portion into a second proximate corticular bone portion;
- b) installing a threaded, self-tapping implant such that a leading segment anchors in said distal corticular bone and a trailing segment anchors in said proximate corticular bone,
- whereby said trailing segment includes an unthreaded portion of maximum diameter on said implant which serves to seal the region around said implant against micro-migration into said jaw bone.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.