Patent ID: 7234940

Claim:
A method of forming in situ a resiliently lined foundation for a rigid prosthetic denture, the foundation having a concave support undersurface and being of the type removably secured to permanently implanted dental support posts embedded into a patient's jaw, wherein the support posts each include a shank secured to the patient's jaw and a support portion extending outwardly longitudinally and laterally from the shank and beyond the patients jaw surface, and where the concave support undersurface of the denture has substantial space for additional support material to mate with the support portions, the method comprising the steps of: forming indexing sockets, through the concave support undersurface of the denture foundation, for a series of implanted indexing guide posts, at locations intended to mate with the guide posts when the denture is properly secured in the mouth, the indexing guide posts each having an exposed indexing portion extending beyond the jaw of the patient, each of the indexing sockets having a shape wherein the portions distal from the jaw have smaller cross-sections than the portion adjacent the jaw, but of sufficient size and shape to permit smooth and easy insertion into, and removal from, an indexing socket of at least the outermost exposed indexing portion; placing portions of curable dental resin material into the concave support undersurface portion of the denture and placing the denture foundation onto a form selected from the group consisting of the patient's jaw bone ridge and a model of the patient's jaw bone ridge, including the dental support posts and indexing posts, to mold the curable resin so that the resin cures to form a tight fit around the jawbone ridge and support posts, and where the cured resin is sufficiently resilient to permit easy manual removal and reinsertion by the patient of the dental prosthesis by mating with the indexing portions; the dental prosthesis thus being capable of being readily relined with the resilient resin, if needed, by chair side techniques by a dentist, without loss of proper fit and placement.