Dentistry – Prosthodontics – Holding or positioning denture in mouth
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-16
2001-09-18
Lucchesi, Nicholas D. (Department: 3732)
Dentistry
Prosthodontics
Holding or positioning denture in mouth
C433S172000, C433S214000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06290499
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to the dental implant industry. More specifically, this invention relates to impression copings for use as either a pick-up type or transfer type impression coping.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
For an artificial tooth (i.e. “dental restoration”) to closely replicate the lost natural tooth that it replaces, the artificial tooth must emerge from the gum tissue with the same shape and contour as did the natural tooth. Currently, dental implants, which function as artificial tooth roots, are embedded in the bone tissue of the maxillary and mandible. After these implants have osseointegrated, it is necessary to form the gingiva overlying the bone where the implant is installed. Healing components function to expand a transmucosal opening from the round shape of the implant to a size that more nearly approximates the size of the tooth where it emerges from the gum. After the healing components form the gingival tissue, an impression component is used to make a model of the patients mouth in the area of the implant site.
Creating an artificial tooth for a patient who has been fitted with one or more dental implants begins with taking this impression of the patient's case. Dental implants have locking means (usually a hexagonal boss) useful to interlock with corresponding locking means in the components fitted to them when it is desired to prevent rotation of a component relative to the implant around the longitudinal axis of the implant. Once as implant has become osseointegrated with the host bone, it becomes necessary to preserve in the impression the information describing the orientation of its hex. Recording the correct hex orientation is critical if an accurate model of the patient's case is to be created in the dental laboratory. The component used to effect this information transfer is commonly called an “impression coping”.
By its very nature the impression material is resilient and soft enough that it can be removed from the patient's mouth after it has set up, yet firm enough that it can preserve information imparted to it by an impression coping. If the coping used is a transfer type impression coping, it will remain in the patient's mouth when the impression material is removed, pulling the transfer coping out of the socket formed around it in the impression. This technique is known in the art as the “closed tray method”. If the coping used is a pick-up type impression coping, it will remain within the impression when the material is removed from the patient's mouth. This technique is known in the art as the “open tray method.”
A problem that exists with current impression components is that components used for pick-up type impression coping cannot be used for transfer type impression coping and vice versa. This forces manufacturers to produce two separate lines of impression coping components—one for pick-up type and one for transfer type. Moreover, clinicians are forced to maintain separate inventories of components to be used with either method.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an impression coping component which may be interchangeably used with either pick-up type or transfer type impression coping methods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The impression components of the present invention include the improved feature of accepting differently sized coping screws which are used to attach the coping component to the implant. By fastening the coping component to the implant with a longer coping screw, the coping component may be used as a pick-up type impression coping. However, the identical coping component may be used as a transfer type impression coping if a shorter coping screw is used. Therefore, the present invention allows one single coping component to be used for either pick-up type or transfer type impression coping by altering the coping screw used to secure the component to the implant.
This invention is described as a set of dental impression components that may be used for either pick-up type (open tray) or transfer type (closed tray) impression molding techniques. The components are used with an impression material to fabricate a model at a site in a jawbone where an implant has been osseointegrated. The impression components include an impression coping having an outer surface with its bottom end configured to reside below the gingiva surrounding the implant. A passage exists through the impression coping which accepts a first means for attaching the impression coping to the implant for use in a pick-up type impression application. The passage also accepts a second means for attaching the impression coping to the implant for use in a transfer type impression application.
Additional objects and features of the invention will be apparent in the following description of exemplary embodiments of the invention with reference to the accompanying drawings. The scope of the invention is delineated in the claims that are appended to this application.
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Exhibit A, a drawing of a healing abutment.
Exhibit B, an assembly drawing of a coping and the component drawings which comprise the coping assembly.
Exhibit C, a one-piece healing abutment made entirely of DELRIN™.
Bränemark System, Product Catalog Prosthetics 1991, Nobelpharma (3 pages).
DIA™ Dental Imaging Associates, Inplamed—The Source,The Anatomical Abutment System,Copyright Date Oct. 9, 1991 on p. 10 (front cover, pp. 1-10, and back cover).
IMPLA-MED The Source, IMPLA-MED Prosthetic Components (11-1992) (3 pages).
Implant Support Systems, Inc., Catalog Summer 1993 (2 pages).
IMTEC Hexed-Head™ Implant System, IMTEC Prosthetic Components, Spring 1993 Catalog (2 pages).
Interpore International, Restorative Components, Price and Data Sheet, May, 1990 (2 pages).
Lewis et al., Single Tooth Implant Supported Restorations,Intnatl. Jrnl. of Oral & Maxillofacial Implants,vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 25-30,
Beaty Keith D.
Jansen Curtis E.
Lazzara Richard J.
Rogers Dan Paul
Implant Innovations, Inc.
Jenkens & Gilchrist
Lucchesi Nicholas D.
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