Abstract: A tool for affixing a component to a dental implant fixture with a screw passing through the component and threaded into the implant fixture, in which the tool has two parts telescopically interfitting one within the other, the outer part being tubular for carrying the component at one end, and the inner part fitted at one end for carrying the screw positioned within the component, whereby the component and the screw within it can be carried together to the implant fixture where the outer part is used to hold the component in place while the inner part is used to drive the screw into the implant fixture.

Abstract: A tool for affixing a component to a dental implant fixture with a screw passing through the component and threaded into the implant fixture, in which the tool has two parts telescopically interfitting one within the other, the outer part being tubular for carrying the component at one end, and the inner part fitted at one end for carrying the screw positioned within the component, whereby the component and the screw within it can be carried together to the implant fixture where the outer part is used to hold the component in place while the inner part is used to drive the screw into the implant fixture.

Abstract: A torque limiting clutch which transmits gradually increasing torque up to a prescribed limit at which limit the clutch disengages from its load. An embodiment designed for light service use in dentistry encloses all the working parts in a housing through which torque is applied to the load, and is autoclavable. This embodiment can be attached to known dental handpieces for assembling components of dental restorations with prescribed limited torque.

Abstract: A second stage healing abutment for forming and preserving in the mucosa above a dental implant a transmucosal opening large enough to receive an artificial tooth that faithfully replicates a natural tooth being restored, and a companion transfer coping having identical transmucosal portions for forming in a laboratory model a faithful replica of the transmucosal opening made of a resilient gingiva replicating material in which to fabricate the artificial tooth, and methods of using the same.

Abstract: A torque limiting clutch which transmits gradually increasing torque up to a prescribed limit at which limit the clutch disengages from its load. An embodiment designed for light service use in dentistry encloses all the working parts in a housing through which torque is applied to the load, and is autoclavable, This embodiment can be attached to known dental handpieces for assembling components of dental restorations with prescribed limited torque.

Abstract: A torque limiting clutch which transmits gradually increasing torque up to a prescribed limit at which limit the clutch disengages from its load. An embodiment designed for light service use in dentistry encloses all the working parts in a housing through which torque is applied to the load, and is autoclavable. This embodiment can be attached to known dental headpieces for assembling components of dental restorations with prescribed limited torque.

Abstract: A dental implant fixture intended for installation in maxillary and mandibular posterior regions where bone is cancellous internally ant cortical externally characterized by labial and lingual cortical plates bounding a relatively large body of cancellous bone. The body of the implant fixture has a width dimension that is substantially the same as the distance between the labial and lingual cortical plates in the site of installation When installed in that site the implant fixture makes bone-to-implant contact with both of the plates simultaneously The length of this implant fixture is limited so that when installed it does not make contact with the mandibular canal or the sinus cavities.

Abstract: A second-stage healing abutment for forming and preserving in the mucosa above a dental implant a transmucosal opening large enough to receive an artificial tooth which faithfully replicates a natural tooth being restored, and a companion transfer coping having identical transmucosal portions for forming in a laboratory model a faithful replica of the transmucosal opening in which to fabricate the artificial tooth, and methods of using the same.

Abstract: A tool for affixing a component to a dental implant fixture with a screw passing through the component and threaded into the implant fixture, in which the tool has two parts telescopically interfitting one within the other, the outer part being tubular for carrying the component at one end, and the inner part fitted at one end for carrying the screw positioned within the component, whereby the component and the screw within it can be carried together to the implant fixture where the outer part is used to hold the component in place while the inner part is used to drive the screw into the implant fixture.

Abstract: An article of dental floss particularly for hygienic maintenance of titanium abutments which is in the form of a ribbon or an elongated strip of woven or non-woven flexible moisture-absorbent material having adequate strength when wet to resist breaking when pulled back and forth adjacent teeth abutments or implant abutments and over gum tissue and is sufficiently soft when wet to avoid scratching the abutments and cutting into or abrading the gum tissue. A relatively stiff leader at one end of the strip serves to thread the strip between teeth and under bridges and bars.

Abstract: A dental scaler particularly for scaling artificial dental abutments made of a material that is softer than natural dentition, such as titanium and its dilute alloys, without scratching the surface of the abutment. Two embodiments of the scaler are disclosed; in one the scaler tip has a contact surface that is softer than the abutment surface; in the other the contact surface has a contact edge that is rounded to avoid scratching the abutment surface.

Abstract: A support plate for an orthodontic anchorage fitting designed to be removably attached to a dental crown analog. The plate has curved slots at each end for passage of screws used to attach it to a sidewall of the analog, so that the plate can be adjusted on the sidewall around an axis that is between the slots. Pivot means can be provided in the sidewall and the plate for locating the plate pivotally on the sidewall. The plate is made of a material, such as stainless steel, to which an orthodontic anchorage fitting may be attached by welding.

Abstract: A driver for screws, bolts and the like which have a socket for receiving the bit of a driver, in which a tapered holding section between the bit and the shaft of the driver serves to hold an article by frictional engagement with the opening edge of the socket when the bit is engaged in the socket for turning the article. The bit is shorter than the depth of the socket, and the holding section expands sufficiently away from the bit so as to make frictional contact with the edge of the socket when the bit is engaged in the socket.

Abstract: A dental crown analog for anchoring an orthodontic archwire to a dental implant fixture installed in a patient who is edentulous at the site where such anchorage is desired has a hollow tubular passage integral with the analog and extending mesially-distally through the analog close to an adjacent buccal or lingual surface. This passage has a slot-shaped opening at one end, the larger dimension of which is generally parallel to the adjacent surface, and the larger dimension tapers toward a smaller generally cylindrical cross-section between its ends or at the other end. Where the smaller cross section is between the ends of the passage the other end of the passage also has a slot-shaped opening. A tube for holding the archwire may be fitted in the passage, rockably mounted in the smaller portion of the passage.

Abstract: A dental crown analog suitable for orthodontic anchorage mates with an endosseous dental implant fixture to provide such anchorage at an edentulous site. The crown analog is tapered down toward the transverse dimensions of the implant fixture above the gun line, to minimize the accumulation of bacterial plaque, and to facilitate cleaning by the patient during the process of orthodontic therapy. A standard abutment fixed to the implant fixture may be used with a dental crown overlay fitted over the abutment to provide a choice of crown sizes and shapes.

Abstract: A dental coping in the form of an elongated tubular body has a base portion adapted at a first end of the body to mate with the gingival aspect of the patient's implant fixture, and a thin-walled tubular portion extending to the other end of the body supragingivally from the base portion when the base portion is so mated. The base portion is substantially rigid, having a thicker sidewall than the thin-walled tubular portion. A shoulder is provided within the base portion, for cooperating with a bolt to fasten the coping to the implant fixture. A flange extends radially from the coping, preferably from the rigid base portion, for fixing in place a temporary restoration formed around the coping. The fabrication and use of fixed provisional restorations in partially edentulous patients undergoing treatment with osseointegrated fixtures is described.

Abstract: Dental implant fixtures having external diameters less than 3.0 mm., and external threads which are deeper at the apical end of the fixture than elsewhere are described. The deeper threads near the apical end serve to pull the fixture into a prepared bore in the patient's jawbone. There results a firm close contact between the fixture and the host bone to promote osseointegration. Ultra-slim implant fixtures are provided which can be used in thin sections of human jawbone where dental implants were previously contra-indicated.

Abstract: A dental coping in the form of an elongated tubular body has a base portion adapted at a first end of the body to mate with the gingival aspect of the patient's implant fixture, and a thin-walled tubular portion extending to the other end of the body supragingivally from the base portion when the base portion is so mated. The base portion is substantially rigid, having a thicker sidewall than the thin-walled tubular portion. A shoulder is provided within the base portion for cooperating with a bolt to fasten the coping to the implant fixture. A flange extends outwardly fropm the coping, preferably from the rigid base portion, for fixing in place a temporary restoration formed around the coping. A conical socket in the base portion mates with a conical post on the implant fixture. The fabrication and use of fixed provisional restorations in partially edentulous patients undergoing treatment with osseointegrated fixtures is described.

Abstract: A dental implant fixture of cylindrical cross-section has a diameter limited to not more than about 3 mm., for use in narrow jawbone ridges. The diameter of the fixture is smaller at its apical end than at its gingival end. Screw threads on the outer surface of the fixture are peak-limited to the locus of a cylinder of uniform diameter that is larger than the diameter of the fixture at its apical end.

Abstract: A Precision-machined abutment base for accurately fixing an artificial tooth to a dental implant fixture is fashioned of a dental gold alloy or other machinable rigid dental material in a tubular form having an internal retainer for fixing it to the implant fixture, and external retainers for anchoring it to a rigid substructure of the tooth and to an anatomical overlay covering the substructure. An artificial tooth is disclosed in which the substructure is a casting of the same material as the abutment base, forming a unit with the base, is covered with an overlay of porcelain that is bonded at its gingival end directly to a marginal portion of the abutment base, completely concealing the substructure.