Fixation Tray Lock Mechanism for Dental Implant Precision
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Dental implantation surgeries face challenges in accurately placing implants due to the lack of precise guidance, leading to potential damage to anatomical structures and suboptimal aesthetic results, especially in the anterior mouth area, where traditional freehand methods are inadequate and require large surgical access openings.
Innovation Solution
A stable affixation system comprising a customizable fixation tray with a housing for a flowable or malleable material and a lock mechanism that reduces movement, allowing the material to harden against teeth and stabilize the tray, enabling precise positioning and tracking during guided dental implantation surgery.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional freehand methods are used for dental implantation, then surgical access openings can be large enough to allow visual verification, but placement precision deteriorates and risk of damaging anatomical structures increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary planning and fabrication of a customized fixation tray based on patient-specific anatomy and implant positions. The tray is designed beforehand to guide the surgical instrument along the precise trajectory, eliminating the need for large access openings and reducing intraoperative decision-making that could lead to errors.
Solution Approach 2:
The fixation tray acts as an intermediary device between the surgical plan and the actual implantation. It translates the pre-planned implant positions into physical guidance structures that constrain the surgical instrument, ensuring accurate placement while protecting underlying anatomical structures through minimized access openings.
2Manufacturing precision
If a fixation tray is used to guide implant placement, then placement precision improves, but the tray may move or shift during surgery reducing stability
Solution Approach 1:
The fixation tray incorporates localized adaptation features including flexible side walls that can deform to match the specific geometry of the patient's teeth. This local customization ensures intimate contact between the tray and dental structures, preventing movement while maintaining the overall rigidity needed for precise guidance.
Solution Approach 2:
The side walls of the fixation tray are designed with dynamic flexibility, allowing them to adapt to the contours of the teeth during insertion and then maintain a stable locked position once seated. This dynamic behavior enables the tray to transition from a flexible insertion state to a rigid guidance state, ensuring both ease of placement and operational stability.
3Stability of the object's composition
If the fixation tray is made rigid for stability, then tray stability improves, but the ability to adapt to different patient anatomies deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The fixation tray is segmented into distinct functional zones: rigid guidance structures that maintain stability and precision, and flexible side walls that adapt to anatomical variations. This segmentation allows the tray to simultaneously achieve both stability for accurate implant placement and adaptability to different patient anatomies through the compliant side wall portions.
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
The system provides precise and stable placement of dental implants, reducing the risk of tissue damage and improving aesthetic outcomes by allowing real-time tracking and accurate positioning within a quarter of a millimeter, facilitating minimally invasive procedures.
Implementation Method 1
a housing that defines a chamber configured to house a flowable or malleable material and be placed over one or a plurality of teeth of a person during the guided dental implantation
Data Source
AI summary
A stable affixation system for dental implantation includes a fixation tray having, for rapid placement, a housing defining a chamber whose inner surface is configured to house a flowable or malleable material and be placed over one or more teeth during guided dental implantation surgery. Housing side walls are joined to a cross member that has a flexion region on each side of the housing, each side wall having an upper side portion and a lower side portion. Without the lock a squeezing force on the upper side portions flexes the lower side portions outward. The lock urges the upper side portions outward so as to flex the lower side portions inward, thereby urging the material, once hardened, against the teeth. The lock reduces or eliminates freedom of movement of the tray. The system allows rapid removal and is sturdy enough to withstand forces including from various angles and leverage.