Dental alignment system and method for dental implant placement

Abstract

A dental alignment guide system for dental implant placement has an anatomical guide, a tooth supported guide and a surgical guide. The system further can have an articulation piece, a prosthetic seat, an analog anatomical model and artificial teeth. The system has a plurality of implants, the implants being abutments, preferably multiunit abutments, a plurality of screws for attaching the anatomical guide to bone, pins to removably attach the various guides and the artificial teeth to the anatomical guide as assemblies during the method of practicing the invention.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of implanting artificial teeth comprising the steps of:
 providing an arch shaped anatomical guide structure having an interior wall extending from a first end to a second end, the interior wall formed to abut against and be secured to a portion of a labial and/or buccal side of a patient's exposed bone of the alveolar process with soft gum tissue removed or displaced by flapping, the curved exterior wall having at least one fastener openings extending through the arch shaped structure, each fastener opening configured to receive a fastener to secure the anatomical guide to the exposed bone of either the mandible or the maxilla;   attaching the anatomical guide to the exposed bone.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the step of:
 providing a tooth supported guide with a “U” shaped curved structure configured to vertically fit onto a patient's existing teeth and a connection extending from the “U” shaped curved structure to an end, the connection being sized to be received and complimentarily fit into a connection aperture on the anatomical guide; and 
 wherein the anatomical guide and the tooth supported guide when connected together form an assembly. 
 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the step of:
 placing the assembly of anatomical guide and the tooth supported guide on teeth to vertically to align the interior wall of the anatomical guide to abut against the exposed bone prior to securing the anatomical guide with fasteners to the exposed bone. 
 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the step of:
 pivoting or rotating the assembly as the tooth supported guide is placed onto the teeth while sliding into place allowing the attached anatomical guide to pass under the teeth to abut against the exposed bone while being partially under an undercut of the exposed bone and teeth. 
 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the connection is a plurality of support bars extending from the “U” shaped curved structure to an end, each end of the support bars being sized to be received and complimentarily fit into a connection aperture on the anatomical guide, wherein at least the ends of the support bars of the tooth supported guide in proximity to one of the first end and the second end of the anatomical guide have an opening and the connection aperture of the anatomical guide has a pair of openings aligned with said support bar end opening on assembly, further comprises the aligned openings configured to receive a pin or locking device for coupling the anatomical guide to the tooth supported guide. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the step of:
 fastening the anatomical guide to the exposed bone, detaching and removing the tooth supported guide attached to the anatomical guide as the assembly after the anatomical guide is fastened to the exposed bone can have the tooth supported guide removed from the assembly. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the step of:
 passing at least one threaded screws to fasten the anatomical guide to the exposed bone by passing through one of the at least one fastener openings of the anatomical guide. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the anatomical guide has a flat outer surface extending between the curved interior wall and the curved exterior wall to provide a bone cutting guide surface to create a reduced bone with or without teeth removed to receive implants further comprises the step of cutting the exposed bone. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the steps of:
 providing a surgical guide, the surgical guide with a curved structure having a connection; the curved structure having a plurality of openings extending from an outer surface toward a reduced bone surface of the alveolar process, the openings configured to receive implants or screws for seating the surgical guide, the connection extending from the curved structure to an end, each end of the connection being configured to be received and complimentarily fit into a connection aperture on the anatomical guide; and 
 attaching the surgical guide to the anatomical guide, wherein the anatomical guide and the surgical guide when connected together form an assembly. 
 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the surgical guide has an exposed outer surface with a plurality of implant openings each implant opening being a guide tube, each guide tube being positioned in one of the plurality of implant openings to direct a placement of a drill and an implant into the bone further comprises the step of directing the drill into the bone, drilling openings and placing implants into the openings. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the steps of:
 providing an analog model replicating the patient's reduced bone with implant placements, the analog model has a pair of attachment openings configured to receive an articulation piece, and 
 an articulation piece, the articulation piece has a pair of attachment posts for attachment into the pair of attachment openings on the analog model, and 
 wherein the articulation piece replicates the patient's teeth and bone that existed prior to a bone reduction to provide for alignment and articulation; further comprises the step of aligning and articulating. 
 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the step of:
 positioning a prosthetic seat with openings aligned with the implant openings, the prosthetic seat being positioned on the reduced bone with identifying markers for abutment pieces to be attached to the implants in the reduced bone between the reduced bone and the artificial teeth. 
 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the step of:
 providing an anatomical model of the patient's teeth and exposed alveolar process with soft tissue removed to replicate the patient's teeth and mandible or maxilla prior to any teeth extraction or bone reduction. 
 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8  further comprises the step of:
 providing a plurality of implants, the implants configured to pass through the guide tubes of the surgical guide. 
 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14  further comprises the steps of:
 driving the implants into the reduced bone, wherein the implants are driven into the reduced bone while being guided by the guide tube securely fixed to the bone at a desired angle, depth and rotation, rotation being controlled by aligning markers on the implant driver to markers on the surgical guide at a depth stop; 
 attaching abutments to the implants, wherein each abutment has one or more alignment flats or slots and the prosthetic seat is marked to indicate an alignment location for the flats or slots to control rotation to a desired angle; and 
 cutting cylinders to a desired length prior to attachment to the abutments, wherein each abutment has an exposed end configured to receive and temporarily hold a cylinder, each cylinder being pre-cut to a desired length. 
 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1  further comprises the steps of:
 providing prosthetic artificial teeth, the artificial teeth have a connection configured to align with the connection aperture of the anatomical guide to form an assembly; 
 aligning the artificial teeth to the cylinders, wherein the prosthetic artificial teeth have a plurality of holes configured to align with the cylinders and to receive the cylinders attached to the abutments into the holes at the desired length so the cylinder end is at or below the surface of the teeth when the artificial teeth are attached to the anatomical guide; 
 placing a plurality of straws, a straw being inserted into an open end of the cylinder to occlude the opening to the screw access; 
 bonding and securing the cylinders to the artificial teeth by light curing a light curing material, wherein a light curing material is applied to the holes of the artificial teeth to bond and secure the cylinders to the artificial teeth; 
 removing the artificial teeth from the anatomical guide with the cylinders fixed to the artificial teeth; and 
 removing the connection of the artificial teeth, wherein the connection is removed and the artificial teeth polished and prepared for placement into the patient. 
 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16  further comprises the step of:
 unfastening the anatomical guide from the bone and the soft tissue flap sutured prior to attaching the artificial teeth. 
 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  further comprises the step of:
 passing a plurality of screws configured to pass through the cylinders and threading the plurality of screws into the abutments thereby securing the artificial teeth to the reduced bone; and 
 wherein insertion of the anatomical guide is directionally inserted toward the facial for attachment to the buccal or labial bone. 
 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18  further comprises the step of;
 fitting the anatomical guide inside the undercut and wherein the anatomical guide is form fitted to the buccal or labial bone at or below the undercut, wherein the anatomical guide does not include a lingual or distal portion and wherein the anatomical guide does not include being supported by or fitting on a ridge top surface of the bone. 
 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19  wherein multiple devices can be attached to the anatomical guide and supported by a latch and pin structure, wherein the multiple devices attach to the anatomical guide and cantilever over the bone structure.