Retaining screw with retentive feature

Abstract

A dental retaining screw used to secure dental components, such as abutments, copings, and prosthesis to dental implants. The screw having a locking mechanism adapted to prevent the screw from loosening during shipping or while experiencing vibrations. The locking mechanism includes a locking component and biasing members located in the head portion of the retaining screw.

1 . A retaining screw for fastening a dental component to a dental implant, the retaining screw comprising: 
 a head having a seating surface adapted to engage a seating surface inside a cavity of the dental component;    a shank extending downwardly from the head and having external threads adapted to threadably engage a threaded socket of the dental implant, wherein said seating surface inside said cavity of the dental component is disposed between said seating surface of said head and the implant; and    a locking mechanism located at the head and including a locking component and a biasing member, the locking mechanism adapted to prevent the retaining screw from loosening while the retaining screw is threadably engaged in the socket of the dental implant.    
   
   
       2 . The retaining screw of  claim 1  wherein the locking component is a ball, and the biasing member is a spring.  
   
   
       3 . The retaining screw of  claim 2  wherein the ball and spring are housed in a lateral bore, and the spring biases the ball against the cavity of the dental component.  
   
   
       4 . The retaining screw of  claim 3  wherein the ball is formed of a ceramic, and the spring is formed of a corrosive resistant metal.  
   
   
       5 . The retaining screw of  claim 4  wherein the ball is formed of one of ruby or silicone nitride, and the spring is formed of one of titanium or steel with a diamond coating.  
   
   
       6 . The retaining screw of  claim 4  wherein the locking mechanism holds the retaining screw with a preload force of about one ounce to about 1½ pounds.  
   
   
       7 . A retaining screw for fastening a dental component to a dental implant, comprising: 
 a body having a seating surface adapted to engage a seating surface of the dental component and an externally threaded shank adapted to threadably engage the dental implant, wherein said seating surface of the dental component is disposed between said seating surface of said body and the implant; and    a locking mechanism located on the body and including a housing and a locking component and a biasing member located in the housing, wherein the biasing member moveably biases the locking component, and the locking mechanism is adapted to prevent the retaining screw from loosening when threadably engaged with the dental implant.    
   
   
       8 . The retaining screw of  claim 7  wherein the housing is a lateral bore, and the locking component slideably moves inside the bore.  
   
   
       9 . The retaining screw of  claim 8  wherein the locking component includes two balls.  
   
   
       10 . The retaining screw of  claim 9  wherein the biasing member is a spring with two ends, a first end biasing one of the balls, and a second end biasing another of the balls.  
   
   
       11 . The retaining screw of  claim 10  wherein one ball partially projects out of one end of the lateral bore, and another ball partially projects out of another end of the lateral bore.  
   
   
       12 . The retaining screw of  claim 7  wherein the biasing member moveably biases the locking component to partially project out of the housing.