Wearer-removable dental implant attachment

An improved dental implant prosthesis attachment comprising an attachment having hollow receptacles embedded within the prosthesis and formed with openings for receiving the heads of the mounting posts, and slide members which are removably insertable into the receptacles, by the wearer, to fixedly retain the heads of the posts within the receptacles and which are removable by the wearer to permit cleaning of the prosthesis and subjacent gum area.

BACKGROUND 
1. Field of Invention 
This invention relates to dental implants and is particularly directed to 
improved dental implant attachments which enable the prosthesis to quickly 
and easily be removed and reinstalled by the wearer. 
2. Prior Art 
Dental implants have been available for several years now and, 
conventionally, have been installed by imbedding a fixture in the 
patient's jaw for osseointegration, threading several mounting posts into 
this fixture and securing a dental prosthesis to these mounting posts to 
provide a restoration which simulates natural teeth in most aesthetic and 
functional attributes. Thus, dental implant prostheses are fixedly mounted 
in the wearer's mouth and, hence, will not slip during usage, which is a 
common complaint of traditional dental prostheses. However, permanently 
mounted dental prostheses must be mounted so that there is adequate space 
between the prosthesis and the gumline to provide access for daily 
cleaning of the implants and attach components. Otherwise, plaque 
accumulation around the implants will cause bone loss, abscess and 
eventual loss of the implant. Unfortunately, providing this cleaning space 
causes problems for the patient including food impaction, poor phonics 
(air escaping under the prosthesis) and, most of all, unacceptable 
aesthetics. Moreover, permanently mounted dental implant prostheses must 
periodically be removed by a dentist for cleaning, inspection and the 
like, which causes considerable expense and inconvenience to the wearer. 
Alternatively, dental implant prostheses must be of the removable type, in 
which the implants are used to stabilize the prosthesis with ball and 
O-ring attachments or "bar and clip" type attachments. With the removable 
type prosthesis, an acrylic flange can be included to extend over and hide 
the implant components. With this arrangement, no cleaning space is 
necessary between the prosthesis and the gum because the wearer is able to 
remove the prosthesis to perform thorough cleaning of the implants and the 
subjacent gum area. Because the implant components are hidden, the 
removable dental prostheses are more aesthetically pleasing. However, the 
main disadvantage of the removable prostheses is its inherent lack of 
stability and the possibility of its becoming dislodged during use. Along 
with this comes lack of the patient's confidence in and acceptance of the 
prosthesis. Also, it has been found that the flexible O-rings and clips 
become fatigued with use and tend to loosen and to allow slippage and 
disattachment of the prosthesis from the mounting posts, causing problems 
similar to those encountered by wearers of conventional non-implant dental 
prostheses. A search in the United States Patent Office has revealed the 
following: 
______________________________________ 
U.S. Pat. No. 
INVENTOR ISSUED 
______________________________________ 
5,064,374 D. Lundgren Nov. 12, 1991 
5,051,091 P. J. Rosenfeld 
Sep. 24, 1991 
4,988,292 D. B. Rosen Jan. 29, 1991 
4,931,016 R. Sillard Jun. 5, 1990 
______________________________________ 
Each of these references is subject to the deficiencies noted above. Thus, 
none of the prior art dental implants have been entirely satisfactory. 
BRIEF SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF INVENTION 
These disadvantages of the prior art are overcome with the present 
invention and an improved dental implant attachment is provided having a 
prosthesis which can quickly and easily be removed by the wearer and, 
thus, can have all the aesthetic advantages of the removable prosthesis, 
yet which is fixedly mounted to the posts and, hence, is not subject to 
slippage or inadvertent detachment of the prosthesis from the posts. 
The advantages of the present invention are preferably attained by 
providing an attachment having hollow receptacles contained within the 
prosthesis formed with openings for receiving the heads of the mounting 
posts and having slide means, which are insertable into the receptacles, 
by the wearer, to fixedly retain the heads of the posts within the 
receptacles, and which are removable by the wearer to permit cleaning of 
the implants and subjacent gum area. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an 
improved dental implant attachment. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved dental 
implant attachment having means for hiding the posts to prevent the posts 
from being visible when the wearer opens their mouth. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved dental 
implant attachment allowing a prosthesis which is removable by the wearer, 
yet which is fixedly attachable to the mounting posts and is not subject 
to slippage or detachment. 
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an improved 
dental implant attachment allowing a prosthesis which is fixedly attached 
to the mounting posts, yet which is removable by the wearer to permit 
cleaning of the prosthesis implants and the subjacent gum area. 
A specific object of the present invention is to provide an improved dental 
implant attachment comprising an attachment having hollow receptacles 
contained within the prosthesis formed with openings for receiving the 
heads of the mounting posts and having slide means which are insertable 
into the receptacles, by the wearer, to fixedly retain the heads of the 
posts within the receptacles and which are removable by the wearer to 
permit cleaning of the plate and subjacent gum area. 
These and other objects and features of the present invention will be 
apparent from the following detailed description, taken with reference to 
the figures of the accompanying drawing.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
In that form of the present invention chosen for purposes of illustration 
in the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a dental prosthesis, indicated generally at 
10, comprising a plurality of implants 12 embedded for osseointegration in 
the jaw 14 of a patient. A plurality of mounting posts 16 are provided, 
each threaded into a respective one of the implants 12. A dental 
prosthesis 18 carrying one or more false teeth 20 is provided and has an 
underside, not shown, formed to mate with the jaw 14, as with conventional 
dental prostheses, and has a plurality of recesses for receiving the 
mounting posts 16, as with conventional dental implant prostheses. 
However, in accordance with the present invention, the prosthesis 18 has 
one or more receptacles or tunnel members 22 embedded within the plastic 
or ceramic material of the prosthesis 18 and extending completely through 
the prosthesis 18, as best seen in FIGS. 2 and 3. As best seen in FIG. 3, 
the tunnel members 22 communicate with the exterior surface of the 
prosthesis 18, on both the inner and outer sides, and are provided with 
openings 24 in the bottom surfaces 26 of the tunnel 22 to permit entry of 
the mounting post 16 into the interior of the tunnel member 22. Finally, 
slide members 28 are provided which are frictionally slideable into each 
of the tunnel members 22. As best seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the slide members 
28 are each formed with a recess 30 which is configured to receive the 
mounting posts 16 and serve to releasably lock the tunnel members 22 and, 
hence, the prosthesis 18 to the mounting posts 16. As best seen in FIG. 3, 
the recess 30 extends only part way through the slide member 28. Thus, 
when the slide member 28 is fully seated, the inner end 32 of the recess 
30 will bear against the mounting post 16 to assure proper positioning of 
the slide member 28 and to provide a tactile indication to the wearer that 
the slide member 28 is in the "locked" position. The tunnel members 22 may 
be formed of any suitable material, such as metal. The slide members 28 
are preferably formed of somewhat resilient material, such as nylon, to 
provide a cushioning action. However, if desired, the slide members 28 may 
be made of any suitable material which will serve to releasably lock the 
prosthesis 18 to the mounting posts 16. At least two of the tunnel members 
22 are required to assure balanced locking of the prosthesis 18 to the 
mounting posts 16. However, if desired, one tunnel member 22 may be 
provided for each of the mounting posts 16. 
In use, the wearer places the prosthesis 18 in his mouth, with the mounting 
posts 16 projecting into the recesses, not shown, on the underside of 
prosthesis 18 and with at least two of the mounting posts 16 projecting 
through the openings 24 into the interiors of the tunnel members 22. 
Thereafter, the wearer inserts one of the slide members 28 into each of 
the tunnel members 22 and pushes the slide member 28 into the tunnel 
member 22 so that the inner end 32 of recess 30 of the slide member 28 
engages the mounting post 16. This indicates to the wearer that the slide 
member 28 is in the "locked" position and that the prosthesis 18 is 
securely locked onto the mounting posts 16. To remove the prosthesis 18, 
the wearer inserts a toothpick or the like into the inner opening of the 
tunnel member 22 and simply pushes the slide member 28 out of the tunnel 
member 22. This releases the mounting posts 16 and allows the wearer to 
remove the prosthesis 18 to clean the prosthesis 18 and the gum area 
around the posts 16 and implants 14. It will be apparent that the wearer 
can insert and remove the slide members 28 quickly and easily to permit 
removal and anchoring of the prosthesis 18 whenever necessary or 
desirable. At the same time, when the slide members 28 are inserted into 
the tunnel members 22, the prosthesis 18 will be firmly and securely 
locked onto the mounting posts 16 with no looseness or danger of slippage 
or dislocation. Since only the outer ends of the tunnel members 22 will be 
visible when the wearer opens his mouth, the device of the present 
invention will be aesthetically pleasing and, if the slide members 28 are 
formed of nylon, the slide members 28 may be colored to match the material 
of the plate 18 to further minimize the visibility of the device of the 
present invention. 
FIG. 5 shows an alternative means for mounting the tunnel members 22 to the 
prosthesis 18. As is well known, it is common to embed metal support 
frames, such as frame 34, within the plastic or ceramic material composing 
the dental prosthesis 18. When this is done, the tunnel members 22 may be 
formed integral with the frame 34, as shown in FIG. 5, and may be embedded 
into the prosthesis 18 with the frame 34. Of course, the tunnel members 22 
must project from both sides of the frame 34 to ensure that the ends of 
the tunnel members 22 will communicate with the exterior of the prosthesis 
18 to enable the slide members 28 to be inserted into and removed from the 
tunnel members 22. 
FIG. 6 shows a further alternative form of the present invention for use 
with a partial prosthesis, indicated generally at 36. As is well known, 
mounting posts 16 may be secured to live teeth, such as teeth 38, by full 
coverage crowns 40. As described above with respect to full prosthesis 18, 
tunnel members 22 may be embedded in the plastic or ceramic material of 
the partial prosthesis 36, in a manner such that the tunnel members 22 
communicate with both the inner and outer surfaces of the prosthesis 36, 
and slide members 28 may be removeably inserted into the tunnel members 22 
to releasably lock the tunnel members 22 and, hence, the prosthesis 36 to 
the posts 16. 
Obviously, if desired, the dental implant of the present invention may also 
be incorporated into partial plates and made to releasably lock the 
partial plate to adjacent live teeth. In addition, numerous other 
variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit 
of the present invention. Therefore, it should be clearly understood that 
the forms of the present invention described above and shown in the 
accompanying drawings are illustrative only and are not intended to limit 
the scope of the present invention.