Attachment members with internally located radiopaque information markers for CT scan

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11890164-B2
Application number	US-201916413326-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 15, 2019
Priority date	Oct 21, 2015
Publication date	Feb 6, 2024
Grant date	Feb 6, 2024

Abstract

An attachment member for mating with a dental implant includes a non-rotational structure and a body. The non-rotational structure is configured to mate with a corresponding non-rotational feature of the dental implant. The body extends from the non-rotational structure. The body has (i) an exterior side surface configured to at least partially engage gingival tissue adjacent to the dental implant, (ii) an exterior top surface that is exposed through the gingival tissue, (iii) a screw access bore for receiving a screw that attaches the attachment member to the dental implant in a removable fashion, and (iv) a set of radiopaque information markers that is located internal to the exterior side surface and the exterior top surface. The set of radiopaque information markers indicates information regarding the dental implant that is revealed in response to a scan from a computerized tomography (CT) scanner.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of manufacturing a patient-specific prosthesis, the method comprising:
acquiring scan data, via a computer system, of a patient's mouth including at least gingival tissue and an attachment member coupled to a dental implant installed in the patient's mouth, the attachment member having a body and at least two radiopaque information markers within respective radiopaque marker cavities positioned within the body at locations internal to an exterior side surface and underneath a top surface of the attachment member, the at least two radiopaque information markers being substantially equidistant from a central axis of the attachment member, the at least two radiopaque information markers configured to indicate information regarding the dental implant;
creating, via the computer system, a three-dimensional computer model from the scan data;
based on the information indicated from the at least two radiopaque information markers, modifying, via the computer system, the three-dimensional computer model to create a modified three-dimensional computer model;
designing, via the computer system, a three-dimensional computer model of at least a portion of the patient-specific prosthesis using the modified three-dimensional computer model;
attaching the attachment member to the dental implant installed in the patient's mouth, wherein attaching the attachment member to the dental implant installed in the patient's mouth comprises:
inserting a fastener through an insert portion of the attachment member;
engaging the dental implant with the fastener; and
removably connecting a cap portion of the attachment member to the insert portion, wherein the cap portion of the attachment member includes the exterior side surface and the top surface of the attachment member, and wherein the at least two radiopaque information markers are located within a space defined at least in part by the exterior side surface and the top surface of the cap portion.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein acquiring the scan data includes receiving computerized tomography (CT) scan data via a computerized tomography (CT) scanning technique.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two radiopaque information markers include one or more of spheres, cubes, pyramids, or rectangular cuboids, or a combination thereof.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two radiopaque information markers include three radiopaque information markers positioned substantially equidistant from the central axis of the attachment member.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least two radiopaque information markers are positioned on a shared plane.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information obtained from the at least two radiopaque information markers includes at least the central axis of the dental implant installed in the patient's mouth.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information obtained from the at least two radiopaque information markers includes at least a location of a seating surface of the attachment member.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information obtained from the at least two radiopaque information markers includes at least a location of one or more flats of a nonrotational structure of the dental implant installed in the patient's mouth.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information obtained from the at least two radiopaque information markers includes at least a diameter of the attachment member and a height of the attachment member.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the attachment member has an anatomical tooth shape.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising at least one of:
modifying the attachment member outside of the patient's mouth, wherein modifying the attachment member outside of the patient's mouth includes removing or adding material to a stock attachment member, and wherein the stock attachment member has one of an anatomical tooth shape or a non-anatomical tooth shape; and
scanning the attachment member outside of the patient's mouth in a fixture to obtain attachment member scan data.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein modifying the attachment member outside of the patient's mouth includes removing material from the exterior side surface of the attachment member.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the attachment member is one of a plurality of attachment members, and wherein each of the plurality of attachment members is preformed to a predetermined size and shape, and
wherein the method further comprises selecting an appropriate one of the plurality of attachment members for the modifying.

14. A method of manufacturing a patient-specific prosthesis, the method comprising:
receiving, via a computer system, attachment member data;
receiving, via the computer system, scan data of a patient's mouth including at least gingival tissue and an attachment member coupled to a dental implant installed in the patient's mouth when the attachment member is installed in the patient's mouth, wherein the attachment member has a body with an integrated supragingival portion and subgingival portion, the integrated supragingival portion and subgingival portion being operable to receive a fastener to couple the attachment member to the dental implant, the subgingival portion being insertable into the dental implant, the attachment member including at least two radiopaque information markers within respective radiopaque marker cavities positioned within the body at locations internal to an outermost exterior side surface and underneath an outermost top surface of the attachment member, wherein at least one radiopaque information marker of the at least two radiopaque information markers indicates a location of a central axis of the attachment member in the scan data;
based on information indicated from the attachment member data and the scan data of the at least two radiopaque information markers, modifying, via the computer system, a three-dimensional computer model of the attachment member to create a modified three-dimensional computer model;
providing, via the computer system, a three-dimensional computer model of at least a portion of the patient-specific prosthesis using the modified three-dimensional computer model,
wherein the providing of the three-dimensional computer model of the at least a portion of the patient-specific prosthesis improves restorative flexibility during design and installation of the patient-specific prosthesis; and
attaching the attachment member to the dental implant installed in the patient's mouth, wherein attaching the attachment member to the dental implant installed in the patient's mouth comprises:
inserting a fastener through an insert portion of the attachment member,
engaging the dental implant with the fastener, and
removably connecting a cap portion of the attachment member to the insert portion, wherein the cap portion of the attachment member includes the outermost exterior side surface and the outermost top surface of the attachment member, and wherein the at least two radiopaque information markers are located within a space defined at least in part by the outermost exterior side surface and the outermost top surface of the cap portion.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein the received attachment member data is scan data of the attachment member positioned in a fixture when the attachment member is outside of a patient's mouth, wherein the at least two radiopaque information markers are substantially equidistant from the central axis of the attachment member, and wherein at least one radiopaque information marker of the at least tw

Assignees

• Biomet 3I Llc

Inventors

• Suttin Zachary B
• Porter Stephen S

Classifications

• A61C8/0001 Primary

  Impression means for implants, e.g. impression coping · CPC title

• A61C8/005

  Connecting devices for joining an upper structure with an implant member, e.g. spacers · CPC title

• A61C8/006

  with polygonal positional means, e.g. hexagonal or octagonal · CPC title

• A61C13/0004

  Computer-assisted sizing or machining of dental prostheses · CPC title

• A61C13/34

  Making or working of models, e.g. preliminary castings, trial dentures; Dowel pins [4] · CPC title