Dental implant mounting solutions with transmucosal collar and patient-specific mounting heads attached directly thereto
A dental abutment or mounting head features a base of predetermined size and shape arranged for seating atop a flanged portion of a transmucosal collar that is fastened to a dental implant. An axial hole opens into the abutment/head from the underside thereof at a location arranged to align over an axial bore of the collar through which the collar is fastened to the implant. An upper portion of the abutment/head for supporting a dental prosthetic or framework is customized for the patient concerned. The predetermined base portion occupies substantially the entire face of the collar flange to provide optimal support of the abutment/head. As an interface between the implant and the abutment, the collar avoids the need to customize the base of the abutment to fit the particular brand or model of implant used, thereby reducing the amount of custom design and/or fabrication needed to fit the application.
1. A method of preparing a dental implant mounting system for mounting of a dental prosthetic to a dental implant, the method comprising the step of:
obtaining a customized mounting head that has been custom fabricated according to dental prosthetic placement and orientation requirements of a particular patient, and that possesses a customized shape at an upper portion of said mounting head that resides overtop of a base portion of predetermined standardized configuration having a blind hole that extends into the base from an underside thereof and terminates at a closed upper end at which said blind hole is fully covered by the upper portion of the mounting head;
obtaining a transmucosal collar that features a lower portion configured to coaxially engage an upper end of the dental implant, a flanged portion projecting radially outward relative to the lower portion at an upper end thereof, an externally threaded upper portion upstanding from the flanged portion, and an axial bore passing fully through the transmucosal collar from a top end of the externally threaded upper portion to a lower end of the lower portion;
obtaining an internally threaded cap having a threaded blind hole extending thereinto from a bottom end thereof and terminating at a closed top end of said threaded blind hole at which at which said threaded blind hole is fully covered by a top wall of said cap;
threading a fixation screw into the implant through the axial bore of the transmucosal collar, thereby fastening the transmucosal collar to the implant;
installing the internally threaded cap and the customized mounting head on the transmucosal collar, during which the internally threaded cap is placed in a position in which (i) the internally threaded cap is threaded onto the externally threaded upper portion of the transmucosal collar, (ii) the internally threaded cap is located inside the blind hole of the customized mounting head, and (iii) the closed top end of the threaded blind hole in the internally threaded cap and the closed upper end of the blind hole in the mounting head both overlie the axial bore of the transmucosal collar and thereby fully enclose the fixation screw therein; and
attaching the customized mounting head to the internally threaded cap.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining the customized mounting head comprises fabricating the upper portion customized using an additive manufacturing process.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of obtaining the customized mounting head comprises fabricating an entirely of the mounting head using an additive manufacturing process.
4. The method of claim 2 wherein the additive manufacturing process is 3D printing.
5. The method of claim 1 comprising fabricating at least part of the customized mounting head from castable material.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of attaching the customized mounting head to the internally threaded cap comprises casting the customized mounting head to the internally threaded cap.
7. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of attaching the customized mounting head to the internally threaded cap comprises cementing the customized mounting head to the internally threaded cap.
8. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of attaching the customized mounting head to the internally threaded cap comprises soldering the customized mounting head to the internally threaded cap.
9. The method of claim 1 wherein the step of attaching the customized mounting head to the internally threaded cap comprises adhering the customized mounting head to the internally threaded cap.