Patent ID: 7264470

Claim:
A dental implant comprising a shaft having a coronal end, an apical end, and an outer surface provided with a circumferentially-oriented roughness having a first axial section and a second axial section, the first axial section being located coronally of the second axial section, and each section of the circumferentially-oriented roughness of the dental implant having a pitch, wherein each section of circumferentially-oriented roughness comprises a series of circumferentially-oriented peaks being axially spaced apart by troughs, wherein the axial spacing between adjacent peaks in the first axial section is less than the axial spacing between the adjacent peaks of the second axial section, wherein the circumferentially-oriented roughness of the first axial section has a height, from trough to crest of the peak, of about 0.2 mm or less; wherein the sections of circumferentially-oriented roughness have the same or substantially the same pitch, and wherein the dental implant is configured to support one or more artificial teeth.