Customized dental prosthesis for periodontal or osseointegration, and related systems

Abstract

A dental prosthesis to be integrated into a jaw bone cavity of a pre-identified patient. An example of a dental prosthesis includes a first manufactured portion having a surface shaped to substantially dimensionally conform three dimensionally to an undersized shape of the outer three-dimensional surface shape of a root of a tooth to be replaced, and a second manufactured portion shaped to substantially conform to the three-dimensional surface of a crown of the tooth. The outer surface of the root portion can include or be coated with a biocompatible material that is suitable to be integrated into the extraction socket and adopted by existing tissue forming the socket.

Description

1. RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]The present application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12 / 763,001, titled “Customized Dental Prosthesis for Periodontal or Osseointegration, and Related Systems and Methods,” filed on Apr. 19, 2010, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 724,261, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,708,557, titled “Customized Dental Prosthesis for Periodontal- or Osseointegration and Related Systems and Methods,” filed on Mar. 15, 2007, which is a continuation-in-part of and claims priority to and the benefit of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11 / 549,782, filed on Oct. 16, 2006, titled “Customized Dental Prosthesis for Periodontal- or Osseointegration and Related Systems and Methods,” each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]The present invention relates generally to the field of dentistry, and more particularly to...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0020]In view of the foregoing, various embodiments of the present invention beneficially provide a customized dental prosthesis and implant in various embodiments based on a process that includes copying a significant portion of the original root geometry of a human tooth to be integrated after extraction of the original tooth either in the existing biological cell structure of the periodontal ligament or as one piece into the embedding bone structure of the respective jaw. According to various embodiments of the present invention, primary stability is favorably achieved by a custom made splint that connects the dental prosthesis with the adjacent tooth or teeth or other dental structures like existing implants, bridges and the like. The concept of periodontal integration of an artificial tooth uses the existing human periodontal ligament for integration and is certainly less invasive than the integration of osseointegrated implants. The concept of integrating a one-piece prosthesis that includes a root-shape part, an abutment, and a crown, according to an exemplary configuration, combines the two clinical episodes of integrating the root-shaped part and adapting the crown into one clinical event. Even if such one-piece prosthesis would include an assembly of two or more parts, the assembly can be fabricated in the controlled environment of a dental laboratory or an industrial fabrication. As a result, the quality of the interface sealing between such parts can be expected to be of higher quality as produced in the mouth of the patient. This may reduce the infection rate so that the success rate of the one-piece prosthesis according to an embodiment of the present invention would be higher as achieved with implementations according to conventional systems.

Problems solved by technology

Although various preventive measures, like frequent tooth brushing and flossing, and drinking fluoridized or iodized water are widely accepted and used, the great majority of people are sooner or later challenged with dental fillings, restorations implants, and / or prostheses.

Generally, the number of available restorative and prosthetic options is limited.

Osseointegrated implants are drastically invasive and the gingiva-implant interface is often the cause of chronic local infection.

Additionally, all the aforementioned restorative and prosthetic options have a limited average lifetime.

If the loss of tooth substance is severe, however, this may not be applicable.

Bacterial infections can be caused if the sealing is compromised in regards to its short, mid and long-term stability.

The success rate and the in-vivo life time of osseointegrated dental implants, however, are limited, and the surgical procedure is considered heavily invasive because the bone needs to be drilled or ground in order to be adapted to the shape of the non-customized implants.

Furthermore, osseointegrated implants are a limiting factor in a later orthodontic treatment.

In cases where a tooth is not severely damaged, and would be ready to receive a partial restoration, but an intra-oral repair is impossible due to access problems, or a reverse root canal treatment is required, an alternative method is the intentional re-implantation.

A disadvantage relating to all such techniques is certainly that the specific tooth to be reimplanted or transplanted still needs an overall reasonable condition and prognosis to justify an intentional re-implantation and that only certain root and root canal deficiencies can be repaired this way.

However, despite the apparent success, most of them show localized ankylosis and gross resorption of the root at the end of this time.

All such restorative and prosthetic options and methodologies are deficient being heavily invasive and / or limited in their respective scope.

There is also no prior recognition of fabricating the root-shaped custom portions of the prosthesis based on anatomical imaging data prior to the extraction of the tooth or of the teeth of interest or directly of the alveolar situation.

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