Patent ID: 8867800

Claim:
A method for designing and fabricating a dental prosthetic restoration based upon the position and orientation of a dental implant previously placed in a patient, without requiring a physical impression of the patient's oral cavity, the method comprising the steps of: a) installing a digital impression coping which properly engages said dental implant; b) scanning an image of the patient's dental anatomy including at least said digital impression coping using an intra-oral imaging method; c) transmitting said scanned image to a fabricator of restorative dental prosthetics; d) using said scanned image to derive a corresponding prosthetic restoration and its relevant position and orientation characteristics for the patient and installed implant including the step of correlating said scanned image to a library of digital impression coping data to derive angular and vertical position data and locking orientation information of said installed implant; and e) generating said corresponding prosthetic restoration for installation in said patient.