Patent ID: 7104797

Claim:
In combination, an endosseous dental implant member and a mating abutment member both having mutually facing gingival ends, and said gingival end of one of said members has a socket of noncylindrical shape and uniform cross section throughout defined therein and facing the gingival end of the other of said members, and the other of said members has at its gingival end a post of corresponding, mating, noncylindrical shape wherein said socket and said post both have mating polygonal shapes forming planar post wall surfaces with straight, longitudinally extending edges therebetween and planar socket wall surfaces with straight, longitudinal edges therebetween, and said post has a longitudinal axis of alignment and is equipped with at least one transversely directed projection protruding from at least one of said post wall surfaces and is otherwise of uniform cross section throughout and said transversely directed projection extends longitudinally along only a portion of said post and laterally across the entire post wall surface from which it protrudes and has a rectangular cross section considered in a plane containing said longitudinal axis of alignment and perpendicular to the planar post wall surface upon which it is formed and a trapezoidal cross section considered in a plane passing through it and oriented normal to said longitudinal axis of alignment, and wherein said post fits snugly into said socket with an interference fit between said post and said socket so that said at least one transversely directed projection is force fitted into said socket pressed tightly against a facing socket wall surface of said socket.