Patent ID: 7780447

Claim:
A dental implant assembly for supporting a dental prosthesis, the assembly comprising: a dental implant comprising a body portion located at a distal end of the dental implant, the body portion configured to lie at least substantially below a crest of a patient's jawbone, a collar portion located at a proximal end of the dental implant, the collar portion having an outer edge having at least one peak and one valley; a central bore that extends through the collar portion and into the implant body portion, the central bore including a threaded portion and a post portion, an intersection of the surfaces of the collar portion and the central bore defining an inner edge, the inner edge having at least one peak and one valley; a mating surface defined by a surface between the inner edge and the outer edge, wherein the outer edge has a radial dimension greater than the radial dimension of the inner edge, wherein at least a portion of the post portion has a cross-section with a larger radial dimension than the threaded portion, and a healing abutment comprising a post configured to fit within the post portion of the central bore and including an upper portion and implant mating surface that is configured to mate with the mating surface of the dental implant, wherein the implant mating surface comprises an outer edge defining a first width as measured normal to a longitudinal axis of the healing abutment, and wherein the upper portion comprises an outer surface that extends from the outer edge of the implant mating surface to a top surface of the upper portion, and wherein a substantial portion of the outer surface defines a second width as measured normal to the longitudinal axis that is approximately the same as the first width, the outer surface being configured to shape a patient's gums during healing after placement of the implant.