Custom Locator-Compatible Abutments

PartMaker has recently undertaken the endeavour of making custom Locator-compatible abutments for a customer that required a custom solution. For those who are not too familiar with Locators, this article gives a good overview of the benefits of using Locator implant abutments over traditional adhesive dentures.

In making these parts, PartMaker had to overcome several different challenges. The Locator system caters to many different implant systems such as Straumann, Zimmer, Southern External Hex and many more.

Custom Solutions

Our customer requested custom Locator-compatible abutments from different systems and varying heights and widths. These custom parts would enable him to greatly improve his workflow and to that effect, improve his customers care.

As such, our approach was to ensure that we could maintain the high quality products our customers expect from us while retaining all the necessary features they required in treating their patient.

While most of the Locator abutments look similar, some of the requested parts had distinct features that required special tools to achieve the profile. This proved to be a tough but stimulating exercise for our team since we had to engineer innovative solutions to achieve the requested results.

Challenges

Some of the challenges we faced when producing these custom locator compatible abutments was replicating the nitriding necessary for the manufacture of the parts. The nitriding itself is important as it increases the wear resistance and overall hardness of the abutment’s surface.

Including this meant that we needed to create a custom jig that would allow us to house the manufactured custom Locator-compatible abutments into a housing that would only nitride the top part of the abutment. This will prove to be a useful process to offer across a range of custom abutments.

As seen from the figures, we were able to manufacture custom Locator-compatible abutments that met our customers needs. This exercise also helped us learn new skills and solutions to manufacturing problems as a team that will definitely be useful to us in the future.

If you are interested in having custom Locator-compatible abutments made, do reach out to us and we hope to provide the solution you need to best serve your patient! You can also get in touch with us by filling in the form at the following link : https://www.partmaker.com.au/shop/locators/custom-locator-compatible-abutment/.