Technical sector

[1] The constructive principles and features found in the present invention are applicable to the dental implant sector. More specifically, said intraosseous dental implants.

Description of prior art

[2] Intraosseous dental implants have the property of the osseointegration, where an element foreign to the bone tissue is inserted and integrated therein, without rejection.

[3] The placement of a dental implant consists of a surgical technique where the surgeon performs the bone preparation through an opening (hole) with dimensions smaller than the implant, and then performs the said initial stabilization, when the implant is placed by through the application of torque in order to penetrate the threads of the implant into the bone tissue.

[4] The quality of initial stabilization is a result of factors such as the shape and dimensions of the opening made in the bone preparation, implant geometry, applied torque values, among others.

[5] Torque control applied by the surgeon plays a key role in the quality of the initial stabilization of the implant. The initial stabilization of the implant, in turn, is determinant in the process of osseointegration.

[6] At the moment of application of torque, the surgeon uses a said placement wrench that has the ability to temporally attach to the Implant so that the surgeon can manually transmit, with the aid of a torque wrench, the torque required for the implant. Once the implant is placed in the bone opening, the surgeon will cease the application of torque and uncouple the implant placement wrench by simply the surgeon pull the placement wrench in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the placement wrench.

[7] The coupling between the placement wrench and the implant is usually made by means of geometrical arrangements between the placement wrench and the implant coupling means. Typically, implant manufacturers and placement wrenches use coupling systems comprising 6 to 8-sided geometries, i.e., hexagonal and octagonal cross-sectional geometry, respectively.

[8] Also present in the prior art are the internal coupling placement wrenches, where the implant has an internal hole of compatible geometry to receive the placement wrench and transmit the torque desired by the surgeon.

[9] When the surgeon's torque is transmitted to the implant through the placement wrench, stresses occur in the implant, stresses, especially shear stresses, in the coupling region (13) can lead to undesirable plastic deformations in the implant engaging means. It is important to note that dental implants, due to their dimensions, have relatively thin regions, favoring the undesirable deformations in them.

[10] In the event of plastic deformations in the implant engaging means, the locking between the placement wrench and the implant may occur, making it difficult for the surgeon to perform the decoupling between the placement wrench and the implant, i.e.; there may be a need for the surgeon to apply a torque in the opposite direction to the placement for the purpose of detaching and removing the placement wrench.

[11] U.S. Patent US6626911B1, issued to Engman et a/., discloses geometries for engagement between the placement wrench and the implant coupling member, wherein said geometries include non- planar surfaces of variable radius of curvature, in order to increase the resistance to plastic deformation of the implant.

[12] There is in the prior art, therefore, the need for a dental implant having engaging means to the placement tools which exhibit greater resistance to plastic deformation during the torque transmission required for the implant placement, and which do not have geometries having variable radius of curvature.

[13] It is important to note that the surgeon, when implanting dental implants, exerts torques in the approximate size of 55 N.cm, i.e., implants must resist the application of these torques without the occurrence of plastic deformation.

[14] Also absent in the prior art is a torque transmission system comprising the constructive details of an implant and a placement wrench constructed in accordance with the present invention.

[15] Still absent in the prior art is a method of torque transmission comprising the use of implants and placement wrenches exhibiting resistance to plastic deformation when subjected to the upper torques without having variable radius of curvature in their geometry.

Brief description of the invention

[16] A dental implant (10) constructed in accordance with the constructive principles of the present invention has an imaginary central longitudinal axis (e), means for bone interpenetration (11), prosthetic interface (12), coupling region (13), wherein the coupling region (13) has a geometric configuration of the double heptagonal type.

Brief description of the figures [17] Figure 1: Shows a placement wrench having engaging means constructed in accordance with the scope of the present invention;

[18] Figure 2 Shows a placement wrench coupled to an implant both constructed according to the scope of the present invention;

[19] Figure 3: Shows a detail of the engagement between the placement wrench and the implant shown in figure 2.

Detailed description of the invention

[20] It is the objective of the present invention a dental implant having engaging means to the placement wrenches which exhibit resistance to plastic deformation during the torque transmission required for the placement of the implant.

[21] It is also an objective of the present invention a placement wrench which exhibits resistance to plastic deformation during the torque transmission required for implant placement.

[22] it is also an objective of the present invention a torque transmission system comprising the constructive details of an implant and a placement wrench constructed in accordance with the present invention.

[23] Still further objective of the present invention is a torque transmission method comprising the use of implants and placement wrenches comprising the constructive details and features of the present invention.

[24] A dental implant (10) constructed in accordance with the constructive principles of the present invention resists the stresses resulting from torques transmitted by means of a placement wrench (20) which are significantly higher than torques typically employed by surgeons without plastic deformations.

[25] A dental implant (10) constructed in accordance with the constructive principles of the present invention has a coupling region consisting exclusively of planar surfaces.

Example

[26] A dental implant (10) and a placement wrench (20) were constructed in surgical titanium by machining, in accordance with the constructive principles and feature of the present invention, as shown in Figures 1 to 3, and further detailed follow.

[27] The dental implant (10) having an imaginary central longitudinal axis, means for bone interpenetration, prosthetic interface, a coupling region, a coupling region having a geometric configuration of the double heptagonal type. And the prosthetic interface being of the external type and having hexagonal geometry, the means for bone interpenetration being threaded threads.

[28] The cross section characterized by having 14 vertices, and 28 flat edges. The flat edges forming an approximate angle of 25 ⁰ between each other. In addition to the vertices and flat edges, the cross section also has interconnecting segments. In such a way that the flat edges either are interconnected by the vertices or are interconnected by the interconnecting segments, interleaved.

[29] Similarly, a placement wrench (20), shown in Figure 1, had a coupling region called a double heptagonal, being a volume having a "straight prism" geometry, i.e., having a cross-sectional area constant geometry, and longitudinal planes parallel to the longitudinal axis.

[30] The cross-sectional area having 14 vertices and 28 flat surfaces, so as to engage into the coupling region, of the implant (10). The flat surfaces formed at an angle of approximately 25 ⁰ between each other. Obviously, the dimensions of the coupling region being smaller than the volume of the coupling region. In this regard, one skilled surgeon in the field of dental implants will be able to size the coupling region of the placement wrench relative to the volume of the implant coupling region (10).

[31] Figure 2, by means of a cut-off in the coupling region, describes how the coupling region has been accommodated in the respective coupling region. The 14 vertices of the coupling region of the placement wrench (20), being substantially aligned to the 14 vertices of the coupling region of the dental implant (10).

[32] A dental implant placement system made in accordance with the principles of the present invention comprises the use of a placement wrench (20) and a dental implant (10), wherein the placement wrench (20) comprises 14 vertices in its coupling region and the dental implant (10), 14 vertices in its coupling region, to transmit the torques required for the dental implant placement.

[33] variants of the invention in accordance with the principles and features of the present invention.