Dental Abutment Insert Tool for At-Home Replacement and Retention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dental abutment inserts in overdentures experience excessive wear due to friction and pressure-induced expansion, leading to potential dislodgment and requiring frequent professional maintenance, which is costly and inconvenient for patients without easy access to dental care.
Innovation Solution
A simplified, ergonomic tool and method allowing patients to easily remove and replace dental abutment inserts at home, featuring a handle with a blunt end for insertion and a hooked end for extraction, designed for low to medium manual dexterity, with interchangeable components for varying retention forces.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If dental abutment inserts are securely fixed with high retentive strength, then retention and stability of overdenture are improved, but extraction and replacement becomes difficult and requires professional dental intervention
Solution Approach 1:
The tool is divided into distinct functional segments: a handle portion for grip, an insert portion for engagement with the dental insert, and an extraction portion with a hooked end. This segmentation allows each part to perform its specific function optimally while keeping the overall device simple and patient-manageable.
Solution Approach 2:
The tool acts as an intermediary device between the patient and the securely fixed dental insert. The insert portion with protrusions engages the dental insert, and the hooked extraction portion retrieves it, mediating the extraction process without requiring professional dental equipment or expertise.
2Ease of operation
If dental abutment inserts are designed for low insertion force and easy manipulation, then patient self-maintenance becomes feasible, but retentive engagement strength may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The tool exhibits local quality differentiation: the insert portion has protrusions for gentle engagement and insertion, while the extraction portion has a hooked end for secure retrieval. This localized functional differentiation allows easy manipulation during insertion while maintaining effective retentive engagement during use.
3Reliability
If frequent professional maintenance is required for worn dental inserts, then retention and stability are maintained, but cost and inconvenience increase for patients
Solution Approach 1:
The tool enables patients to perform self-service maintenance by extracting worn dental inserts and replacing them with new ones at home. This eliminates the need for frequent professional dental visits for insert replacement, reducing both time loss and maintenance costs while maintaining retention and stability.
4Strength
If dental inserts are made robust and securely fixed, then durability and retention are improved, but device complexity for extraction and insertion increases
Solution Approach 1:
The extraction portion of the tool features a simple hooked end that hooks onto the dental insert and pulls it out. This extracted retrieval method avoids complex screw mechanisms, motors, or multi-step procedures, keeping the device simple despite the robustness of the dental insert being addressed.
Data Source
AI summary
A device for dental prosthetic insert insertion and removal and system providing a tool and intuitive method directed to extraction and replacement of a low insertion force, securely fixed, easily manipulated and highly robust dental inserts for an implantable overdenture abutment prosthetic. Said dental insert placement and replacement tool offers an apparatus for consumer-based, individualized patient-based extraction and insertion of a “snaps” or dental inserts structure exhibiting an adjustable retentive strength and durability rating providing optimum retentive engagement and rotational movement, over an abutment projection, and atop an abutment member which requiring a low level of manual dexterity coupled with high prosthetic retentive effectiveness and ease of insert replacement and replacement.