Method for forming a dental prosthesis

1. A method of creating a provisional dental prosthesis on an implant placed in bone comprising the acts of:

retaining a conical abutment to the implant;

securing a first intermediate component to the conical abutment;

attaching a second intermediate component to the first intermediate component, the second intermediate component including a non-metallic material;

placing a prosthetic template over the second intermediate component;

filling the prosthetic template with a hardenable material;

after the act of filling the prosthetic template, removing the prosthetic template with the second intermediate component within the hardenable material;

forming a provisional prosthesis from the hardenable material, the provisional prosthesis containing the second intermediate component; and

connecting the provisional prosthesis to the first intermediate component by affixing the second intermediate component to the first intermediate component.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first intermediate component comprises titanium.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of securing the first intermediate component uses a screw to secure the first intermediate component to the conical abutment.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of attaching the second intermediate component to the first intermediate component is a snap-fit.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the hardenable material is acrylic.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the prosthetic template has an inner cavity replicating a shape of teeth to be replaced by the prosthesis.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of removing the prosthetic template occurs after waiting a period of time for the hardenable material to at least partially solidify.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the act of connecting the provisional prosthesis to the first intermediate component includes placing cement between ribs of an outer periphery of the first intermediate component and the second intermediate component to secure the provisional prosthesis to the first intermediate component.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the second intermediate component is made entirely of a polymeric material.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising the acts of:

removing the provisional prosthesis and the first intermediate component;

attaching a permanent final prosthesis to the conical abutment.

11. A method of forming a dental prosthesis on a plurality of implants placed in bone comprising the acts of:

attaching a conical abutment to each of the plurality of implants;

securing a metallic first intermediate component to each of the conical abutments;

applying a second intermediate component to each of the metallic first intermediate components via a snap-fit;

placing a provisional prosthetic template over the second intermediate components, the provisional prosthetic template forming an inner cavity generally replicating shapes of teeth replaced by the provisional prosthesis;

filling the provisional prosthetic template with a hardenable acrylic material;

removing the provisional prosthetic template with the second intermediate components from the mouth;

forming a provisional prosthesis from the hardenable acrylic material, the provisional prosthesis containing the second intermediate components;

connecting the provisional prosthesis to the metallic first intermediate components by placing the second intermediate components on the metallic first intermediate components;

creating a permanent prosthesis;

removing the provisional prosthesis and the metallic first intermediate components after the act of creating a permanent prosthesis; and

attaching the permanent prosthesis to the conical abutments.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the metallic first intermediate component comprises titanium.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the act of connecting the provisional prosthesis to the metallic first intermediate component includes placing cement between the metallic first intermediate component and the second intermediate component to secure the provisional prosthesis to the first intermediate component.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein at least one of the conical abutments is an angled abutment.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the metallic first intermediate components have a generally conical shape.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the metallic first intermediate components form a plurality of ribs about a periphery of the generally conical shape.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the second intermediate components are polymeric and have a generally conical shape.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the polymeric second intermediate components form a plurality of ribs about a periphery of the generally conical shape.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the metallic first intermediate components have a generally conical shape and form a plurality of ribs about a periphery of the generally conical shape, the second intermediate components have a generally conical shape and form a plurality of ribs about a periphery of the generally conical shape.

20. The method of claim 19 , wherein the act of connecting the provisional prosthesis to the metallic first intermediate component includes having cement within a gap between the plurality of ribs of the metallic first intermediate component and the second intermediate component to secure the provisional prosthesis to the first intermediate component.

21. The method of claim 11 , wherein the provisional prosthetic template forming an inner cavity generally replicating shapes of teeth replaced by the provisional prosthesis is formed from a stone model of a patient.

22. The method of claim 11 , wherein the provisional prosthetic template forming an inner cavity generally replicating shapes of teeth replaced by the provisional prosthesis is formed from a model of idealized teeth.

23. A method of forming a provisional dental prosthesis on a plurality of implants placed in bone, the implants having abutments attached, the method comprising the acts of:

securing a first intermediate component to each of the abutments;

attaching a second intermediate component to each of the first intermediate components, the second intermediate component including a non-metallic structure;

placing a provisional prosthetic template over the second intermediate components, the provisional prosthetic template forming an inner cavity generally replicating the shape of the provisional prosthesis;

filling the provisional prosthetic template with a hardenable acrylic material to form a provisional prosthesis;

removing the provisional prosthetic template.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the first intermediate component comprises titanium.

25. The method of claim 23 , wherein the act of securing the first intermediate component screws the first intermediate component to the abutment.

26. The method of claim 23 , wherein the act of attaching the second intermediate component to the first intermediate component is a snap-fit.

27. The method of claim 23 , wherein the act of attaching the second intermediate component to the first intermediate component is via cement.

28. The method of claim 23 , wherein the second intermediate component comprises PEEK.

29. The method of claim 23 , wherein the act of removing the provisional prosthetic template removes the second intermediate components from the first intermediate components allowing a practitioner to trim and polish the provisional prosthesis prior to use within the patient.

30. The method of claim 23 , wherein the act of attaching the second intermediate component to the first intermediate component is via cement and the second intermediate components remain attached to the first intermediate components following the act of removing the prosthetic template resulting in the provisional prosthesis being mounted to the first intermediate components via the second intermediate components.