Bi-directional Thread Dental Implant Resists Loosening
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Solution Overview
Problem
Dental implants face failure due to loosening of the abutment's threaded connection with the implant, primarily caused by varying forces during chewing and clenching, which can result in clockwise or counterclockwise rotation and loosening, especially when using right-hand or left-hand threads.
Innovation Solution
The development of a dental implant with bi-directional internal threads within a longitudinal bore, allowing for the securement of both right-hand and left-hand threaded fasteners, thereby accommodating and counteracting rotational forces that lead to loosening.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If right-hand threads are used to secure the abutment to the implant, then the abutment can be firmly attached, but the abutment may loosen under clockwise rotational forces during chewing and clenching
Solution Approach 1:
The internal thread structure is segmented into two distinct sets: right-hand threads and left-hand threads, each occupying different angular regions within the implant bore. This segmentation allows the connection to be divided into functional zones that respond differently to rotational forces, preventing loosening under either clockwise or counterclockwise loads.
Solution Approach 2:
The thread configuration employs asymmetry by providing non-uniform thread orientations - right-hand threads on one side and left-hand threads on the other side of the implant bore. This asymmetric arrangement creates different mechanical responses to directional forces, ensuring that whichever way the abutment experiences rotational stress, the corresponding thread set resists that specific direction of loosening.
2Strength
If left-hand threads are used to secure the abutment to the implant, then the abutment can be firmly attached, but the abutment may loosen under counterclockwise rotational forces during chewing and clenching
Solution Approach 1:
The internal thread structure is segmented into two distinct sets: right-hand threads and left-hand threads, each occupying different angular regions within the implant bore. This segmentation allows the connection to be divided into functional zones that respond differently to rotational forces, preventing loosening under either clockwise or counterclockwise loads.
Solution Approach 2:
The thread configuration employs asymmetry by providing non-uniform thread orientations - right-hand threads on one side and left-hand threads on the other side of the implant bore. This asymmetric arrangement creates different mechanical responses to directional forces, ensuring that whichever way the abutment experiences rotational stress, the corresponding thread set resists that specific direction of loosening.
3Device complexity
If conventional single-direction threads are used, then the implant structure remains simple, but the abutment connection is vulnerable to loosening from variable directional forces
Solution Approach 1:
The implant bore is designed with multi-functionality by incorporating both right-hand and left-hand internal threads within the same structure. This universal design allows the implant to accommodate and resist rotational forces in either direction, making the connection reliable under variable loading conditions without requiring separate implants for different force directions.
Solution Approach 2:
The thread configuration adapts dynamically to the direction of applied forces. When chewing or clenching forces are applied, the appropriate thread set (right-hand or left-hand) automatically engages to resist the specific directional loosening tendency, providing adaptive resistance to variable forces without requiring active control mechanisms.
4Ease of operation
If the abutment is secured with a threaded fastener, then the connection can be tightened, but the fastener may rotate and loosen under varying chewing and clenching forces
Solution Approach 1:
The implant thread structure is designed in advance to counteract potential loosening forces. By pre-configuring both right-hand and left-hand threads within the implant bore, the structure is prepared to resist rotational loosening before it occurs, providing preliminary anti-action against the harmful effect of variable chewing and clenching forces that would otherwise cause fastener loosening.
Data Source
AI summary
Dental restorations utilizing dental implants and abutments that can be secured together using a bi-directional thread feature, and methods relating thereto. The dental implants include a body having a longitudinal length, external threads along the longitudinal length, and a longitudinal bore within the body. A first internal thread set of right-hand threads is within the longitudinal bore and configured to threadably engage a right-hand threaded fastener, and a second internal thread set of left-hand threads is within the longitudinal bore, integrated with the first internal thread set, and configured to threadably engage a left-hand threaded fastener.