Healing components for use in taking impressions and methods for making the same

• US 20020039717A1
• Filed: 11/13/2001
• Published: 04/04/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/10/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Biomet 3i LLC (Zimvie Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Implant Innovations Incorporated (Zimmer Biomet Holdings, Inc.)
• Inventors: Porter, Stephan S., Powell, Theodore M., Amber, John T.
• Granted Patent: US 6,790,040 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 433/172
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 1/24 for the mouth, i.e. stomatoscopes, e.g. with tongue depressors tongue depressors per se A61B13/00; Instruments for opening or keeping open the mouth combined with saliva removers A61C17/00; mouth openers for animals A61D15/00
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/0004 Computer-assisted sizing or machining of dental prostheses
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/08 Artificial teeth; Making same kilns for artificial teeth F27B
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/083 Porcelain or ceramic teeth A61C13/081 takes precedence; preparations A61K6/80
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/0001 Impression means for implants, e.g. impression coping
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/005 Connecting devices for joining an upper structure with an implant member, e.g. spacers
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/008 Healing caps or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 9/004 Means or methods for taking digitized impressions
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 9/0053 Optical means or methods, e.g. scanning the teeth by a laser or light beam
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/00 Computer-aided design [CAD]

Abstract

The present invention provides a healing abutment for attachment to a dental implant with marking locations thereon. The marking locations either lack or have markers that provide a binary code system for retrieving unique information about the healing abutment and the underlying implant.

Claims

1. A gingival healing abutment for attachment to a dental implant, said healing abutment comprising:

at least three marking locations at known positions relative to each other at which identifying markers may be present, a combination of said identifying markers from said at least three marking locations allowing for the identification of at least two characteristics of said healing abutment through use of a binary reference system.

2. The healing abutment of claim 1, wherein said at least two characteristics include a height of said healing abutment and a diameter of a seating surface of said healing abutment.

3. The healing abutment of claim 1, further including a reference marker for identifying the order in which said identifying markers are read.

4. The healing abutment of claim 1, wherein said binary reference system includes one binary digit for each of said at least three marking locations.

5. The healing abutment of claim 1, wherein said identifying markers are grooves for creating protrusions in impression material, said impression material for making a model having replicating grooves that substantially replicate said grooves.

6. The healing abutment of claim 5, in combination with a scanning system that scans said protrusions in said impression material.

7. The healing abutment of claim 5, in combination with a scanning system that scans said replicating grooves in said model.

8. The healing abutment of claim 1, wherein said healing abutment further comprises a fitting orientation marker for determining an orientation of a fitting of said healing abutment.

9. The healing abutment of claim 1, in combination with a scanning system that scans said healing abutment for said identifying markers.

10. The healing abutment of claim 1, wherein said identifying markers are four in number to provide four binary digits.

11. A set of healing abutments, each of said healing abutments having unique characteristics and a plurality of marking locations, each of said plurality of marking locations providing a binary digit, said unique characteristics of each of said healing abutments being identifiable through a binary code that includes said binary digits from said plurality of marking locations.

12. The set of claim 11, wherein said unique characteristics include a height of said healing abutment.

13. The set of claim 11, wherein said unique characteristics include a diameter of the seating surface of said healing abutment.

14. The set of claim 11, wherein said binary digits are a “

1” and

a “

0.”

15. The set of claim 14, wherein said binary digit of “

1”

is a physical marking on said healing abutment at a certain location.

16. The set of claim 15, wherein said binary digit of “

0”

is an absence of a physical marking on said healing abutment at a certain location.

17. The set of claim 11, wherein said binary code includes four binary digits.

18. The set of claim 11, wherein said marking locations include a marker that is capable of developing a physical feature in impression material when said binary digit is “

1.”

19. The set of claim 18, wherein said marker is a groove.

20. The set of claim 18, wherein said marker is a protrusion.

21. A method of developing a prosthetic tooth, said method comprising:

installing a dental implant into a jawbone;

attaching a gingival healing abutment to said dental implant, said gingival healing abutment having binary-coded markers for identifying physical characteristics of said gingival healing abutment;

determining said binary-coded markers to gather information for manufacturing said prosthetic tooth; and

developing a prosthetic tooth based on said information.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein said information includes a size of a seating surface of said implant.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein said information includes a location of said seating surface of said implant.

24. The method of claim 21, further including determining an orientation of a fitting of said implant.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said determining said orientation includes analyzing a reference marker on said healing abutment.

26. The method of claim 21, wherein said developing said prosthetic tooth includes taking an impression of the region adjacent to said implant while said healing abutment remains on said implant, said binary-coded markers create features in said impression.

27. The method of claim 21, wherein said determining said binary-coded markers includes:

taking an impression of the region adjacent to said implant, said binary-coded markers creating features in said impression; and

scanning said impression.

28. The method of claim 21, wherein said determining said binary-coded markers includes:

taking an impression of the region adjacent to said implant, said binary-coded markers creating features in said impression;

making a model of said impression; and

scanning said model.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein said deriving said information occurs directly from a review of said binary-coded markers on said healing abutment.

31. The method of claim 29, wherein said binary-coded markers create features in said impression, said deriving includes reviewing said features in said impression.

32. The method of claim 29, wherein said binary-coded markers create features in said impression, and said method includes creating a model from said impression, said deriving includes reviewing said model.

29. A method of collecting information useful for developing the subgingival regions of a prosthetic tooth, said method comprising:

attaching a gingival healing abutment to a dental implant, said gingival healing abutment having binary-coded markers on an outer surface;

taking an impression of the mouth region around said gingival healing abutment; and

deriving said information from said binary-coded markers.

33. A gingival healing abutment for attachment to a dental implant, said healing abutment comprising:

an exterior surface having a plurality of marking locations that have or lack an identifying marker, said exterior surface further having a reference indicator for instructing a certain sequential review of each of said plurality of marking locations for developing a code indicating at least two characteristics of said healing abutment.

34. The healing abutment of claim 33, wherein one of said at least two characteristics is a shape of said healing abutment.

35. The healing abutment of claim 34, wherein said shape is an anatomical shape.

36. A healing abutment having a barcode providing information on at least a height and a diameter of said healing abutment.