1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an adjustable dental implant for implantation in the alveolar bone and allowing a dental crown to be mounted thereon.
2. Description of the Prior Art(s)
Osseointegration dominates the bonding strength between the alveolar bone and a dental implant, whether a one-piece dental implant or a two-piece dental implant. Take the two-piece dental implant for instance. The dental implant comprises a fixture and an abutment. The fixture is screwed with the alveolar bone. The bottom of the abutment is screwed with the top of the fixture. The top of the abutment extends beyond the gum flap that covers the alveolar bone, so as to mount a dental crown.
As the dental implant is integrated with the alveolar bone only by the fixture in a dental implantation surgery, the quality and quantity of the alveolar bone has a great influence on the success and safety of the dental implantation surgery. Clinically, an alveolar bone at least 10 millimeters in height and at least 5 millimeters in width leads to a successful and safe dental implantation surgery. However, the tooth is extracted or exfoliates before the dental implantation surgery. The alveolar bone atrophies or loses, or the sinus lifts after the tooth extraction and the tooth exfoliation, such that the quality and quantity of the alveolar bone declines, introducing the following issues:
First, the dental implant is likely to damage the tissues near the alveolar bone, resulting in the failure of the dental implantation surgery.
Second, the dental implant cannot be firmly integrated with the alveolar bone and the osseointegration is not ideal. The dental implant and the alveolar bone are loosened after a period of applying the occlusal force on the dental crown, causing the falling of the dental implant and the dental crown and the failure of the dental implantation.
In order to avoid the issues mentioned above, the inventors of the present invention provided a dental implant comprising a fixture, an abutment set at the top of the fixture, and a connecting structure set between the fixture and the abutment. The connecting structure comprises two opposite wings. Each of the wings is at a predetermined angle toward the fixture. The fixture is implanted in the alveolar bone for osseointegration. The top of the abutment extends beyond the gum flap for mounting a dental crown thereon. The wings cover the surface of the cortical bone of the alveolar bone and are fixed with the cortical bone by dental posts.
Clinically, the dental implant provided by the inventors of the present invention has been proved to be capable of avoiding the issues mentioned above, convenient, cost-effective, and safe for implantation. Especially, at the positions where the alveolar bone is poor in quality and insufficient in quantity such as the positions with thin sinus, the one-piece or two-piece dental implant cannot be implemented.
Nevertheless, the degree of alveolar bone atrophy differs case by case. The wings arranged at the predetermined angles toward the fixture are not applicable to all cases. Further, for orientation of abutment for required occlusion, the predetermined angles of the wings may not entirely fit with the surface of the cortical bone and thus the dental posts are not allowed to penetrate the alveolar bone entirely. As such, dental posts are incapable of providing sufficient strength to securely fasten the fixture at a proper position in the process of osseointegration.
To overcome the shortcomings, an adjustable dental implant to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems is provided.
An objective of the present invention is to provide an adjustable dental implant to overcome the technical limitation in fixing the fixture at a proper position in the process of osseointegration.
In accordance with one of the embodiments, the adjustable dental implant comprises an implant body, a connecting structure, and two wings. The implant body comprises a fixture and an abutment. The fixture comprises a top, a bottom, a peripheral surface connected between the top and the bottom, and a joining portion formed on the peripheral surface. The abutment is set on the top of the fixture. The connecting structure is set between the fixture and the abutment. The wings are connected with two opposite sides of the connecting structure. Each of the wings has at least one through hole. One of the wings is pivotally connected with the connecting structure.
In accordance with one of the embodiments, another wing is pivotally connected with the connecting structure.
In accordance with one of the embodiments, another wing is fixed with the connecting structure.
The fixture is implanted in the alveolar bone. The joining portion is connected with the alveolar bone for osseointegration. The wings are fixed with the cortical bone by dental posts to fix the fixture at the initial stage of the osseointegration. For severe alveolar ridge atrophy, the bone graft (the autogenic bone graft or the bone substitute) fills the space between the cortical bone of the alveolar bone and the wings participate in the osseointegration to secure the adjustable dental implant in the alveolar bone. The wings act as a fence to confine the bone graft for avoiding loosening and displacement of the bone graft. As such, the width and the height of the alveolar ridge may be reconstructed. Besides, depending on degree of the atrophy of the alveolar bone, the adjustable dental implant may be directly applied to bone graft surgery or sinus lift surgery during implantation.
Further, the wing or the wings pivotally connected with the connecting structure may be adjusted according to the morphology of alveolar bone and fit with the surface of the cortical bone. Dental posts are allowed to penetrate the alveolar bone entirely, so as to securely fix the fixture. Accordingly, the adjustable dental implants contribute to rapid reconstruction of the elders' occlusion.
After the fixture of the adjustable dental implant, which comprises one wing pivotally connected with one side of the connecting structure and another wing fixed with the opposite side of the connecting structure, is disposed in the bone hole, the wing fixed with the connecting structure is fixed with one side of the alveolar bone first; then the wing pivotally connected with the connecting structure is laminated on and fixed with another side of the alveolar bone. Accordingly, the adjustable dental implant is instantly and stably fixed at the initial stage of the implantation, simplifying operation of the implantation.
In accordance with one of the embodiments, the joining portion of the fixture is a screw thread. When the surgical site of the alveolar bone has a lamina dura with a critical safe thickness, which is from 6 mm to 8 mm, the fixture is fastened with the alveolar bone at the surgical site. The wings are laminated on the alveolar bone, and then fixed with the alveolar bone by dental posts. The joining portion may provide stable and sufficient strength, allowing the adjustable dental implant to osseointegrate with the alveolar bone smoothly and have enough bearing force at the initial stage of the osseointegration. The patient's needs on beauty and occlusion are both met.
When the alveolar bone adjacent to the maxillary sinus is thin, a dental implant has a great chance to stray into the maxillary sinus, thereby causing severe sequela and medical disputes, and jeopardizing the mutual trust between the dentist and patient. In view of this, in accordance with some of the embodiments, the connecting structure is detachably mounted on the implant body. The wings are laminated on the alveolar bone and fixed with the alveolar bone by dental posts first. And then the fixture of the implant body is implanted in the surgical site of the alveolar bone under the guiding of the connecting structure, thereby protecting and preventing the adjustable dental implant from straying into the maxillary sinus.
Other objectives, advantages, and novel features of the embodiments of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Several embodiments, the first to fifth embodiments, of the adjustable dental implant of the present invention are respectively demonstrated in
With reference to
With reference to
The fixture 11 comprises a combination portion 115 (as shown in
With reference to
The connecting structure 20A (as shown in
The first wing 30A (as shown in
The length of the first wing may be different from or equal to the length of the second wing. As demonstrated in
The width of the first wing may be different from or equal to the width of the second wing 40. For example, as demonstrated in
In an embodiment demonstrated in
In an embodiment demonstrated in
In an embodiment demonstrated in
With reference to
Afterwards, the first wing 30A and the second wing 40 are laminated on two sides of the surface of the cortical bone 50A. Dental posts 70 are mounted through the first wing 30A and the second wing 40 and locked with the alveolar bone 50. Since the first wing 30A and the second wing 40 are pivotally connected with the connecting structure 20A, the first wing 30A and the second wing 40 may be fittingly adjusted to laminate on the alveolar bone 50. The dental posts 70 may provide desired locking effect between the adjustable dental implant 1 and the alveolar bone 50.
After covering the alveolar bone 50, the first wing 30A, and the second wing 40, the gum flap 60 is stitched. The top of the abutment 12 extends beyond the gum flap 60 for mounting a dental crown 80 thereon.
Generally, the alveolar bone at least 10 millimeters in height and at least 5 millimeters in width leads to safe dental implantation surgery with a success rate of 95% to 98%. However, the atrophy or the loss of the alveolar bone after the tooth extraction and exfoliation varies case by case, so the quality and quantity of the alveolar bone varies case by case also. Therefore, the means to implant the adjustable dental implant 1 varies case by case. When the surgical site of the alveolar bone has a lamina dura with a critical safe thickness (from 6 mm to 8 mm), for example, the adjustable dental implant 1 demonstrated in
Under the circumstance that the quality and quantity of the alveolar bone is inferior, the dental implantation surgery using the adjustable dental implant may be adjoined with bone grafting to have the fixture of the adjustable dental implant sunk into the alveolar bone. Further, when the thickness of the alveolar bone is thin, sinus lifting and bone grafting may be adjoined with the dental implantation surgery to provide an ideal osseointegration area between the adjustable dental implant and the alveolar bone.
When the dental implantation surgery is operated with the alveolar bone having bad quality or/and insufficient quantity, the autogenic bone graft produced with the drilling to form the bone hole shall be preserved. With reference to
With reference to
When the alveolar bone adjacent to the maxillary sinus is thin, a dental implant has a great chance to stray into the maxillary sinus. With reference to
In a dental implantation surgery, the adjustable dental implant in accordance with the embodiments is implanted into the alveolar bone by the fixture. The joining portion of the fixture is osseointegrated with the alveolar bone. The combination portion of the fixture may be embedded in and abuts the alveolar bone. The first wing and the second wing are laminated on the cortical bone and fixed by dental posts. Accordingly, the adjustable dental implant is securely fixed with the alveolar bone, and the abutment extends beyond the gum flap for mounting a dental crown thereon.
In addition, the wing or the wings pivotally connected with the connecting structure may be adjusted according to the morphology of alveolar bone and fit with the surface of the cortical bone. Dental posts are allowed to penetrate the alveolar bone entirely to firmly fix the fixture. Accordingly, the adjustable dental implants contribute to rapid reconstruction of the elders' occlusion.
Based on the above, the adjustable dental implant in accordance with the embodiments may be implanted with convenient operation, so the surgical time is shortened and the infection rate is lowered. In addition, the fixture of the adjustable dental implant is securely fixed with the alveolar bone after the osseoingration, thereby supporting the abutment firmly and increasing the bite force. Therefore, the adjustable dental implants contribute to rapid reconstruction of elders' occlusion.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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104126760 A | Aug 2015 | TW | national |
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Number | Date | Country | |
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20170049538 A1 | Feb 2017 | US |