DENTAL IMPLANT ASSEMBLY HAVING TACTILE FEEDBACK

摘要

A dental implant assembly includes an implant (10) for osseointegration in alveolar bone, an abutment (44) removably attached to the implant for supporting a tooth prosthesis, and a screw (84) received through an axial bore in the abutment and engaging a threaded bore in the implant. The implant includes an annular shoulder (18) and a plurality of splines (22) spaced from one another to define slots (36) therebetween and disposed circumferentially about the opening of the threaded bore (40). The abutment includes an annular end face (70) in engagement with the annular shoulder of the implant. A cylindrical recess (68) is disposed radially inwardly of the annular end face and receives the splines of the implant therewithin. The cylindrical recess communicates with the axial bore. A plurality of circumferentially spaced axially extending splines (72) defining slots therebetween are disposed within the cylindrical recess and are interleaved with the splines of the implant. The end faces (76) of the splines of the abutment are recessed axially from the annular end face (70) by an amount less than one half of the axial length of the splines of the abutment to provide piloting of the splines of the implant in the cylindrical recess without generating ambiguous tactile feedback that would erroneously indicate full seating of the splines prior to the splines being rotated into full alignment.