In accordance with the invention, a dental implant comprises a body portion and
a head portion. The body portion includes a tip portion which is remote from the
head portion, a lead thread portion adjacent the tip portion, an intermediate thread
portion adjacent the lead thread portion and a distal thread portion which is adjacent
to the head portion. The dental implant further includes a central bore within
the head portion. There is a thread within the bore for receiving a dental prosthesis.
The tip portion comprises at least one cutting edge for cutting bone as the implant
is rotated. The body portion includes at least one flute. The flute has a first
end adjacent to the at least one cutting edge for assisting removal of bone cuttings
from the cutting edge. In a more preferred embodiment of the invention, the implant
includes at least two cutting edges and at least two flutes. In a particularly
preferred embodiment, the flutes extend distally toward the head portion, but terminate
at the end of the intermediate portion so that the distal thread portion does not
have any portion thereof containing a fluted surface.