Patent ID: 8906077

Claim:
A bone plate comprising: a body defining at least one screw hole having a periphery, the screw hole adapted to receive a bone screw inserted in a proximal-to-distal direction; a blocker separate from the body and having a blocking end for blocking the bone screw from further backout of bone should the bone screw begin to back out after implantation, the blocker being predisposed in a blocking position wherein the blocking end at least partially overlaps a portion of a head of the bone screw when the head of the bone screw is disposed within the screw hole, the blocker being moveable from the blocking position by contact with the bone screw during insertion of the bone screw into the screw hole; and a blocker fixation element having an open orientation at which the blocker can move from the blocking position and a closed orientation, the closed orientation preventing substantial movement of the blocker from the blocking position; wherein when the head of the bone screw is disposed within the screw hole, the blocker fixation element cannot be moved to the closed orientation unless the entire head of the bone screw is disposed distally of the blocker and the blocker is disposed in the blocking position, thereby revealing that the blocker fixation element is in position to prevent substantial movement of the blocker, and wherein the body includes a recess and the blocker is at least partially in the recess, and the recess is configured such that the blocking end of the blocker is constrained to move only along a single axis.