DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

[0032] FIG. 1 illustrates a stylized perspective view of a typical titanium dental implant system manufactured by Institut Straumann AG and sold under the trademark OCTASYSTEM. As readily visible in FIG. 1 , the OCTASYSTEM implant 4 is shown installed in jawbone 6 with abutment 8 secured to the implant 4 , and an artificial tooth 10 built onto the abutment 8 . The implant 4 , abutment 8 and artificial tooth 10 are installed between a pair of normal teeth 11 secured by respective roots 7 in the jawbone 6 .

[0033] FIG. 2 illustrates for background prior art purposes a series of dental implant tools and components as manufactured by Friatec Dental Inc. and sold under the trademark FRIALIT-2. As illustrated in FIG. 2 , Friatec Dental Inc. provides a series of four sizes of drills 12 , implants 4 , sealing screws 14 , gingiva former 16 , impression coping seating caps 18 , impression coping 20 , implant analogs 22 and abutments 8 .

[0034] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic exploded perspective view of an Institut Straumann AG OCTASYSTEM implant installed in stylized representation of a jaw bone, with an abutment being installed by a screwdriver. Specifically, FIG. 3 illustrates in exploded stylized manner, the installation of an OCTASYSTEM implant 4 with abutment 16 ready for installation in the implant 4 by means of OCTASYSTEM screwdriver 24 .

[0035] FIG. 4 illustrates a stylized perspective view of an OCTASYSTEM implant installed in a root cavity between a pair of normal teeth. In particular, FIG. 4 illustrates a front view of a typical OCTASYSTEM implant and abutment 8 , installed in the cavity left in the gingiva tissue 9 after the tooth and root have been extracted. Particular note should be taken of the fact that the abutment 8 by necessity, since it is screwed in place, is basically circular or cylindrical in form, and there is a gap between the abutment 8 and the gingival tissue 9 around the cavity 5 . Thus the gingival tissue 9 is not held in place by the abutment 8 . This leads to a serious gingival tissue shrinkage or collapse problem because after a few days, the unsupported gingival tissue 9 tends to shrink or collapse away from the adjacent teeth 11 , and detract from the appearance of or create unsightly gaps in the gum line. In the prior art known to the inventor, no known technique or equipment is provided or taught, or even hinted at, for providing an abutment which is custom-shaped to fit within and support the walls of the gap or cavity left in the gingival tissue after tooth extraction and retain the gingival tissue in place so that the tissue retains an emergence healing profile similar to when the extracted tooth was in place.

[0036] FIG. 5 illustrates a stylized perspective view of an OCTASYSTEM implant installed in a root cavity between a pair of normal teeth with roots. As seen in FIG. 5 , the octa-implant 4 is installed in the root cavity at the base of a tooth which has been extracted from the position between adjacent normal teeth 11 which are held in place by their respective roots 7 . As seen in FIG. 5 , the gingival tissue 9 has an attractive curved shape between the adjacent normal teeth 11 , due to the fact that the tooth has been recently extracted. The base of the cavity is illustrated by dotted lines. However, over a period of several days, the gingival tissue 9 , by not being supported, will shrink or collapse away from the adjacent normal teeth 11 . The shrunk or collapsed gingival tissue creates unsightly gaps when the artificial tooth (not shown) is installed in the implant 4 . Once the gingival tissue 9 has collapsed or shrunk away, it is virtually impossible to encourage the tissue 9 to expand into the gaps between the adjacent teeth. Surgery is required to restore the gum line.

[0037] FIG. 6 illustrates a perspective view of an OCTASYSTEM screwdriver 24 with octagonal tip 26 . FIG. 6 a illustrates an enlarged perspective view of the octagonal tip of an OCTASYSTEM screwdriver.

[0038] FIGS. 1 through 6 a illustrate two existing Straumann and Friatec implant systems and emphasize in particular that there is no mechanism available to abut the gingival tissue surrounding the socket after tooth extraction. Implant systems supplied by other manufacturers also do not address this problem, or even recognize, perceive or acknowledge that tissue shrinkage is a problem.

[0039] The inventor has invented an emergence profile gingival tissue healing abutment system which ensures that gingival tissue surrounding the tooth extraction cavity is supported and cannot shrink after tooth extraction. This preserves the shape of the original gumline and enables attractive implant and crown systems to be installed. There are no unsightly tissue shrinkage gaps in the gumline after implant and crown installation.

[0040] FIG. 7 illustrates a perspective view of a tissue emergence profile shaping healing abutment, screw and tube, according to one embodiment of the invention, adapted for installation onto an Institut Straumann OCTASYSTEM implant, including depictions of the OCTASYSTEM screwdriver. As seen in FIG. 7, a unique emergence profile healing abutment 28 , with separate internal screw 30 (only the end of which is visible) octa-shaped base 31 and tube 32 , according to the invention, is shown ready for installation by screwdriver 24 rotating screw 30 onto the threaded interior of the OCTASYSTEM implant 4 , which was illustrated previously in association with FIG. 5 . The internal screw 30 , by being independent of the abutment 28 , can be rotated by the implantologist into a tight position with the threads in the interior of the OCTASYSTEM implant 4 by screwdriver 24 . The tissue emergence profile shaping healing abutment 28 is formed of a dentally acceptable resilient plastic, or some other dentally suitable material, which can be custom-shaped by the implantologist to fit in the specific concave gum cavity 5 which was illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 and thereby support the surrounding gingival tissue. Thus, because the abutment does not have to be rotated, but stays in one position, the implantologist can custom-shape the emergence profile healing abutment 28 so that it can be approximately oval or approximately triangular or approximately rectangular in horizontal cross-section shape to fit and fill the shape of the specific gum cavity 5 that pertains to the particular type and shape of tooth that has been extracted, such as a central incisor, a lateral incisor, a cuspid or a premolar (see FIG. 14 ), and support the adjacent tissue. It is important to note that, unlike the cylindrical implant systems in the prior art which rotate, the emergence profile healing abutment 28 according to the invention stays in the position in which it is installed by the implantologist and therefore is not and need not be cylindrical in shape. This is an important and unique breakthrough and enables an implantologist to ensure that the abutment 28 , by being custom shaped, fits with and fills the specific gum cavity 5 so that the gingival tissue 9 surrounding the gum cavity 5 will be retained in position during the emergence profile healing process. In a sense, the emergence profile healing abutment 28 , by being custom-fitted to fit and fill the tooth extraction cavity, and by remaining in that position because the octagonal base 31 holds it in position on the OCTASYSTEM implant 4 , takes the place of the extracted tooth and holds the gingival tissue in its original position.

[0041] FIG. 8 illustrates an isometric view of the tissue emergence profile shaping healing abutment and tube installed onto the OCTASYSTEM implant 4 , and illustrates by means of directional arrows, how the emergence profile healing abutment retains and supports the adjacent gingival tissue 9 in its original position and prevents the gingival tissue 9 from shrinking or collapsing due to non-support. The emergence profile healing abutment 28 is shown installed onto the Straumann OCTASYSTEM implant 4 , with the tube 32 protruding from the emergence profile healing abutment 28 . The hollow tube 32 can be square or rectangular in cross-section, or some other suitable cross-section, if required. The tube 32 can be cut away by the implantologist if required. The tissue supporting abutment 28 , according to the invention, with its octagonal base 31 , has been screwed in place in the octagonal interior of the Straumann OCTASYSTEM implant 4 by the screw 30 and the Straumann screwdriver 24 with the Octa-tip 26 . For ease of illustration purposes, the octagonal base 31 is shown slightly separated (raised) from the octagonal recess of the OCTASYSTEM implant 4 . In reality, the octagonal base 31 fits snugly within the octagonal recess and holds the abutment 28 in position. The same is true of FIGS. 9, 11 and 13 . The outline of the eventual temporary crown is also shown in dotted lines in FIG. 8 , in order to give the viewer a sense of what the finished tooth would look like.

[0042] FIG. 9 illustrates a perspective view of an artificial tooth (crown) 10 installed onto an OCTASYSTEM implant 4 , between two normal rooted teeth 11 . It will be noted that the adjacent gingival tissue 9 has remained in position and since no collapse or shrinkage has occurred, there are no unattractive gaps between the artificial tooth 10 and the original tooth 11 . Shrinkage or collapse of tissue 9 would have occurred if the tissue 9 had not been supported by the tissue emergence profile shaping abutment 28 according to the invention during the healing process.

[0043] Related implant fittings and tools utilizing the inventor's unique basic tissue emergence profile shaping and healing abutment system manifest themselves into other embodiments and thus represent part of the overall invention.

[0044] FIG. 10 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of the invention comprising an emergence profile impression coping with OCTASYSTEM screw and plastic seating cap. An impression coping 34 , together with a plastic seating cap 36 are shown in FIG. 10 . The plastic seating cap 36 provides a positive seating of impression coping in the impression. The seating cap 36 as shown in FIG. 10 is cubical or cuboidal in shape. This configuration aids in helping the implantologist to align the coping 34 , abutment 28 . Other configurations of the screw housing tube or coping 34 are possible to suit specific requirements. The impression coping 34 registers and transfers the gingival emergence form accurately. The impression coping 34 , abutment 28 is similar in concept and form to the tissue emergence profile healing abutment 28 , tube 32 discussed previously and the provisional crown abutment discussed below in association with FIGS. 12 and 13 .

[0045] FIG. 11 illustrates a perspective view of the emergence profile impression coping and plastic seating cap installed onto the OCTASYSTEM implant 4 . As seen in FIG. 11 , the impression coping 34 is installed in the octagonal cavity in implant 4 in position for the implantologist to take an impression. In this case, a cylindrical or disklike seating cap 36 is shown. As mentioned above, other suitable shapes of seating caps 36 are possible. Also, other suitable cross-section shapes of impression coping 34 , including cylindrical or square, are possible, other than the one shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 .

[0046] FIG. 12 illustrates an exploded perspective view of a third embodiment of the invention comprising an emergence profile provisional crown or final restoration abutment with screw 30 and plastic tube 32 , used for providing a wax pattern for burnout according to conventional dental laboratory procedures. As seen in FIG. 12 , the abutment 28 , shaped by the implantologist to conform with the cavity in the gum left by the extracted tooth, is formed of plastic or some other dentally suitable material for wax pattern burnout in forming the final gold or ceramic crown, which will ultimately be installed on the OCTASYSTEM implant 4 . The screw 30 , for anti-rejection purposes, should preferably be formed of gold alloy or be gold plated. The tube 32 is formed of plastic as well. The tube 32 , if desired, can be formed to be of another acceptable shape, such as square or rectangular cross-section.

[0047] FIG. 13 illustrates a perspective view of the emergence profile provisional crown or final restoration abutment, according to the invention, installed onto the OCTASYSTEM implant 4 with a plastic tube used for wax pattern burnout. The tube 32 is removed. The shape of the artificial tooth, created in the dental laboratory, is illustrated in dotted line profile in FIG. 13 .

[0048] FIG. 14 illustrates a schematic view of the top front teeth of a human being including central incisors 38 , lateral incisors 40 , cuspids 42 and premolars 44 . The emergence profile healing abutment 28 (as described previously) can be custom-shaped by the implantologist to accommodate any particular shape of gum cavity created by extracting a tooth. This is particularly important for the front teeth, which are more visible, and enable attractive shaping and retention of the gingival tissue, thereby preventing shrinking of the gingival tissue and creating unsightly gaps in the gum line along the visible adjacent teeth. As seen in FIG. 14 , the abutment system according to the invention can be manufactured in four basic shapes and sizes to accommodate the approximately oval base of a typical central incisor 38 , the approximately triangular base of a typical lateral incisor 40 , the approximately square shape of a a typical cuspid 42 and the approximately rectangular shape of a typical premolar 44 . While not shown in the drawings, the basic abutment 28 system according to the invention can be adapted to accommodate temporary crowns. It will be understood that while an octagonal base 31 is illustrated in the drawings, because it is compatible with the Straumann OCTASYSTEM, other base shapes such as hexagonal, which fit the Paragon or Friatec systems, or tapered, which fit the Moore taper of certain implant systems, are possible.

[0049] One important advantage of the emergence profile shaping healing abutment, impression coping, provisional and restoration abutments, wax pattern burnout and temporary crown base system according to the invention in its various embodiments is that it greatly reduces the number of components that must be manufactured for a typical dental implant system (see, for example, the large number of components that are illustrated in FIG. 2 ). Another important advantage, as discussed previously, is that the emergence profile healing abutment 28 according to the invention stays in one position when installed. It can thus be custom-shaped by the implantologist to abut, support and hold in position gingival tissue 9 which, if it were not abutted and supported, would shrink or collapse about the extraction cavity. A conventional implant abutment used in a commercially available implant system, by having to be circular or cylindrical in shape for screwing into the implant, does not abut and support the surrounding gingival tissue 9 . As a result, the tissue shrinks or collapses and once this occurs, cannot be restored without surgery. Unattractive gaps in the gum line are the result.

[0050] As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of the foregoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible in the practice of this invention without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. Accordingly, the scope of the invention is to be construed in accordance with the substance defined by the following claims.