ORAL PROSTHESIS AND METHOD FOR PRODUCING SAME

A porous implantable oral prosthesis which can be used to replicate and replace any hard tissue portion of the mouth such as bone and teeth is described. The prosthesis comprises sintered polymeric particles coated with a hydrophilic material. The polymeric particles vary in size to as to provide an area of relatively coarse porosity (2,12,22,32,42) where the porsthesis is intended to interface with bone tissue (6,16,26,38,48) and relatively fine porosity where it is intended to interface with soft tissue (7,17,27,39,47). A process for producing such prosthesis by filling a mold with appropriate molding compounds comprised of polymeric particles and a hydrophilic monomer, sintering the particles and polymerizing the monomer by dielectric heating, removing the sintered material from the cooled mold, and placing the prosthesis in a hot liquid to remove residues is described. An entire tooth, including a nonporous crown (4,14) may be produced. A process for producing a porous replica of a tooth root (1) suitable for implantation immediately after extraction of a tooth is disclosed. When extraction has taken place in the past and has resulted in the bone and gum receding, a porous implant (11,21) inserted in a newly drilled hole in the patient's jaw bone may be used. A central post (5,15) associated with the implant projecting above the gum may be used for attachsing a denture, partial bridge or a crown. A porous implant (31,41) may be used for jaw bone replacement in order to improve the fitting of dentures.