Patent ID: 8506296

Claim:
A dental abutment having a longitudinal axis, a lingual aspect and a facial aspect, the abutment comprising: a base portion for engagement with a dental implant; a tapered coronal portion defining a coronal extremity spaced proximally from said base portion; the tapered coronal portion having an apical bottom; an emergence profile portion being disposed between said base portion and said tapered coronal portion, said emergence profile portion generally defining a longitudinal direction and comprising: at least a first concave surface, at least a first convex surface, and a chamfer having an apical edge forming a junction with the base portion, and a coronal edge disposed apically relative to the first concave surface and the first convex surface such that the first concave surface and the first convex surface of the emergence profile portion are both disposed coronally relative to the coronal edge of the chamfer, the chamfer forming a short ring so that the coronal edge is substantially closer to the apical edge than the first convex surface entirely around the abutment, and the chamfer being sloped to extend radially outward as the chamfer extends coronally from the apical edge to the coronal edge, wherein the combined longitudinal length of the first concave surface and the first convex surface forms a longer portion of the emergence profile portion than the longitudinal length of the chamfer; and a margin shoulder positioned between the emergence portion and the apical bottom of the tapered coronal portion, the margin shoulder having a lingual side and a facial side, the margin shoulder extending interproximally from the lingual side to the facial side such that the margin shoulder continuously slopes apically from the apical bottom of the tapered coronal portion, wherein the facial side of the margin shoulder is positioned closer to the base portion than is the lingual side of the margin shoulder; the margin shoulder further defining an arcuate transition zone positioned axially along the apical bottom of the tapered coronal portion, the transition zone formed by an increasing radius of the apical bottom of the tapered coronal portion in an apical direction, such that the apical bottom of the tapered coronal portion flares continuously radially outwardly to the radially outermost edge of the margin shoulder, wherein the first concave surface and the first convex surface of the emergence profile portion are both disposed apically relative to the margin shoulder.