Dental Prosthesis Cradle for Single-Visit Implant Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The installation of dental prostheses in patients missing entire jaws is challenging due to the lack of fixed landmarks, leading to inaccuracies in implant placement and requiring multiple visits, resulting in temporary prostheses of poor quality and prolonged treatment times.
Innovation Solution
A cradle system that engages the final dental prosthesis and retains it in the correct orientation and position during surgery, allowing for precise alignment with implants, enabling the installation of a fixed prosthesis in a single visit by compensating for variations in implant placement and orientation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If traditional methods are used to install dental prostheses in edentulous patients, then multiple visits are required with temporary prostheses, but this results in prolonged treatment time and poor quality temporary restorations
Solution Approach 1:
The cradle is pre-fabricated with precise spatial relationships between engagement features and indicator positions before surgery. Computer planning software pre-determines the optimal positions and orientations of implants and the final prosthesis, allowing the cradle to be custom-made to match the planned configuration exactly. This preliminary preparation eliminates the need for multiple adjustment visits and enables single-stage implantation with high precision.
2Reliability
If multiple visits are used for prosthesis installation, then temporary prostheses can be provided, but this extends treatment time and requires poor quality temporary restorations
Solution Approach 1:
The cradle serves as an intermediary device that temporarily holds the final prosthesis in the correct position and orientation during surgery. It features engagement structures that interface with the prosthesis and indicator elements that align with implant positions, acting as a mediator between the implants and the final restoration. This intermediary tool simplifies the installation process by providing a straightforward mechanical guidance system rather than requiring complex multi-visit procedures.
3Measurement precision
If landmarks are used for positioning, then prosthesis placement can be guided, but edentulous patients lack fixed landmarks for accurate positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The cradle incorporates indicator elements (such as pins, rods, or digital markers) that are precisely positioned to correspond with the planned implant locations. These indicators effectively create artificial landmarks that replace the natural anatomical landmarks unavailable in edentulous patients. The cradle is essentially a copy or replica of the planned prosthesis position and orientation, allowing accurate transfer of the digital treatment plan to the surgical site without relying on patient anatomy.
Data Source
AI summary
A cradle, assembly, system and method for installing a prosthesis at a surgical site. The cradle temporarily engages the prosthesis and holds it in the correct orientation and position adjacent the surgical site. An aperture is defined in the cradle and a portion of the prosthesis is received therein. In one embodiment, the cradle, assembly and system are used to install a final dental prosthesis in a patient's mouth in a single visit to the dentist's office. A securement member pins the surgical template and subsequently the cradle to the jaw. A reinforced sub-structure on the final dental prosthesis is received in the aperture in the cradle. Cylinders attached to implants anchored in the jaw extend through holes in the sub-structure and are bonded to the prosthesis. The cradle is detached from the jaw and from the prosthesis prior to screws being re-inserted through the cylinders and into the implants.