Patent ID: 8425231

Claim:
A soft-tissue preservation, dental implant arrangement, comprising: a hollow shell ( 10 ) with an interior volume and a shell axis ( 12 ), the hollow shell having an outer bio-compatible surface for engaging a soft-tissue socket that is left in gingival tissue after a tooth has been extracted from a bone socket under the gingival tissue, the shell having a first outer perimeter ( 16 ) adapted for placement toward the bone socket and a second outer perimeter ( 18 ) adapted for placement adjacent an outer surface of the gingival tissue around the soft-tissue socket, the first outer perimeter being smaller than the second outer perimeter so that the shell tapers outwardly from the first outer perimeter to the second outer perimeter, the second perimeter being asymmetrically scalloped with opposite distal and mesial peaks ( 20 , 22 ) and opposite lingual and facial valleys ( 24 , 26 ) between the peaks, and the shell being sized engaging against the soft-tissue socket without gaps; a dental implant ( 30 ) having an implant axis ( 32 ) and being adapted for placement in the bone socket; a hollow temporary post ( 40 ) having an upper end portion and a lower end portion, the temporary post extending through the interior volume of the hollow shell; a luting compound filling the interior volume between the shell and the temporary post and setting solid for fixing the shell to the temporary post, wherein the first outer perimeter is situated above the lower end portion such that the lower end portion can be engaged with the implant; the hollow temporary post and the hollow shell rigidly connected to the dental implant with no other direct connection between the shell and the implant so that the outer surface of the shell can engage against the soft-tissue socket without gaps and without requiring alignment of the shell axis ( 12 ) to the implant axes ( 32 ).