Dental Implant Abutment External Screw Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional dental implants require patients to open their mouths wide for abutment detachment, posing strain and risking accidental ingestion or swallowing of the abutment during the detachment process.
Innovation Solution
The design features a frictional fitting mechanism between the abutment and fixture, utilizing a fitting recess with an instrument insertion hole to facilitate easy detachment without requiring mouth opening, ensuring secure engagement and preventing accidental ingestion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If the abutment is detached by loosening a screw using a driver and wrench in the oral cavity, then the abutment can be removed for cleaning or replacement, but the patient must open their mouth wide which imposes great strain on the patient
Solution Approach 1:
The screw loosening operation is extracted from the oral cavity environment. The abutment is designed with a screw hole that allows a screwdriver to be inserted from the external side of the oral cavity, enabling the screw loosening operation to be performed outside the narrow oral space, thereby eliminating the need for the patient to open their mouth wide.
Solution Approach 2:
The abutment serves as an intermediary component that connects the fixture in the jawbone to the external environment. By designing the abutment with an accessible screw hole on its external surface, it mediates between the internal fixture and the external screwdriver, allowing operation outside the oral cavity while still achieving abutment removal.
2Ease of operation
If the abutment is detached in the narrow oral cavity using conventional methods, then the abutment can be removed, but there is a risk of accidentally ingesting or swallowing the abutment
Solution Approach 1:
The abutment removal process is extracted from the confined oral cavity space. By enabling screw loosening from the external side through the abutment's screw hole, the abutment can be detached and removed in a controlled external environment, eliminating the risk of accidental ingestion that occurs when working within the narrow oral cavity.
Solution Approach 2:
The conventional approach inserts tools into the oral cavity to remove the abutment. This invention inverts the approach by allowing the screwdriver to approach from the external side through the abutment's own screw hole, reversing the direction of the removal operation to enhance safety.
3Reliability
If the abutment is securely attached to the fixture for stable support, then the implant provides reliable function, but the abutment becomes difficult to detach for cleaning or replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The abutment attachment system is segmented into distinct functional elements: the abutment body, the screw, and the screw hole. This segmentation allows the attachment mechanism to provide strong secure fastening through the screw while simultaneously enabling easy detachment by simply loosening the screw, resolving the contradiction between secure attachment and ease of removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The screw connection enables the abutment to be easily discarded (removed) for cleaning or replacement and then recovered (reattached) by tightening the screw again. This reversible connection method maintains secure attachment during use while allowing straightforward removal when needed.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This solution enhances the workability and safety of dental implant treatments by allowing easy detachment of the abutment without straining the patient and minimizing the risk of accidental ingestion or swallowing.
Implementation Method 1
the head of the fixture is secured to the fitting recess by a frictional force that is generated between an outside surface of the head of the fixture and an inside surface of the fitting recess
Data Source
Figure 1(a)~1(b)
Figure 2(a)~2(b)
Figure 3
AI summary
An abutment is obtained that enables an operation of detaching the abutment from a fixture to be readily performed without having a patient open his/her mouth wide while inhibiting accidental ingestion or swallowing of an abutment that comes off. In a dental implant 100 comprising a fixture 110 and an abutment 120, when a fitting recess 121 of the abutment 120 is fitted onto a fixture head 112 so that a space is formed between a top surface 112b 1 of the fixture head 112 and a bottom surface 121a of the fitting recess 121, the fixture head 112 is secured to the fitting recess 121 by a frictional force, and an instrument insertion hole 129 for inserting an instrument for disengaging the securement by the frictional force in the space is formed on a sidewall 121c of the fitting recess 121.