Patent ID: 7300282

Claim:
A dental implant for affixing a crown portion to a bone structure in the mouth of a patient, said dental implant comprising: a root portion to be implanted below the patient's gum line within an implant socket in the patient's bone structure, said root portion having a channel extending longitudinally therethrough; a flexible abutment projecting upwardly from said root portion, said flexible abutment having a plurality of flexible splines and a passageway extending longitudinally therethrough and being axially aligned with the channel extending longitudinally through said root portion; a crown portion including an elastomeric cap to surround said flexible abutment and a crown to surround said elastomeric cap; and an abutment post moving through said crown portion and into receipt by the axially aligned channel extending longitudinally through said root portion and the passageway extending longitudinally through said flexible abutment, said abutment post applying an outward pushing force against said flexible abutment by which to cause the plurality of flexible splines thereof to rotate towards and compress said elastomeric cap against said crown, whereby to hold said flexible abutment against the crown portion and thereby attach said crown portion to said root portion.