Patent Application
20150100280
The present disclosure relates to dental restorations, and more particularly to generating digital designs for dental restorations.
Dental restorations for patients, for example, crowns, are commonly ordered by dentists from dental labs. Many dental labs outsource the fabrication of dental restorations to milling specialists. Traditional milling providers produce dental restorations that are specific to the fabrication process of the mill For example, a restoration ordered by a dental lab may be fabricated using design parameters which follow from the milling equipment, software design tools, worker skill, of the mill. The ordering dental lab subsequently customizes the dental restoration to suit the needs and the desired aesthetic of the lab technician. This customization is a manual process performed by the technician and requires time and effort and results in higher overall costs for creating a finished restoration.
The present disclosure provides a method for fabricating dental restorations that require little to no subsequent customization by a dental lab. The method advantageously incorporates one or more custom design parameters into the computer-aided design (CAD) process, and thereby automates the production of unique restorations that meet the technical and artistic requirements of the ordering dental lab.
For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be made to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
The present disclosure may be embodied as a method 100 for automatically generating a customized digital design of a dental restoration. As used in this disclosure, a customized digital design is a digital design that incorporates one or more design parameters specific to a particular dental lab. For the purposes of this disclosure, dental laboratories or labs are facilities dedicated to the manufacture or customize of a variety of dental products and medical devices to assist in the provision of oral health care by a licensed dentist. These dental products and medical devices include crowns, bridges, dentures and other dental products. Dental labs employ dental lab technicians that follow a prescription from a licensed dentist when manufacturing dental products and medical devices. In the method 100, an order for a dental restoration is received 103 from a dental lab. The order may comprise a model of a patient's dentition, such as, for example, a cast of the dentition. In other embodiments, the order may comprise a digital model of the dentition of a patient, for example, where a case is electronically scanned. In yet another embodiment, the order may comprise a digital design of a dental restoration that is not a customized digital design. Where the order comprises a dental model, the method 100 further comprises the step of scanning 115 the dental model to produce a digital model of the dentition.
A previously stored set of design parameter is retrieved 106, the set of design parameters being specific to the dental lab. The set of design parameters comprises at least one design parameter. The at least one design parameter is a library selection. Dental labs may prefer and/or otherwise utilize certain anatomical libraries. Anatomical libraries may be digital libraries of CAD designs for teeth, the designs having different appearances. The libraries may be provided by the dental lab, the miller, restoration material manufacturers, or other third-party entities. More than one library may be utilized by the dental lab and may be included in the set of design parameters.
The set of design parameters may further comprise design parameters including one or more of a base cement spacing, a surface cement spacing, a margin line distance, a drill radius/offset, a contact point value, and/or a distance to antagonist, each of which are described in more detail with reference to an exemplary dental restoration—a crown. The base cement spacing (or “cement gap”) is the amount of space needed for cement at the base of the crown. The surface cement spacing (or “extra cement gap”) is the amount of cement space applied on the surface of the preparation. The distance to margin line is the position which delimitates between the cement gap and the extra cement gap. The drill radius/offset is the space needed for a cutting tool to mill sharp corners. The contact point value is a value representing the tightness with which the crown fits between adjacent teeth. The distance to antagonist is the distance from the crown to the opposing tooth (i.e., of the opposite arch). Other design parameters will be apparent in light of the present disclosure and are included within the scope of the present methods and systems.
A customized digital design is generated 109 based on the received 103 order and the retrieved 106 design parameter. By making use of a stored set of design parameters, the generated 109 customized digital design incorporates the design preferences of the ordering dental lab and a dental restoration fabricated from the generated 109 customized digital design will require less modification by a technician.
The method 100 may further comprise the step of fabricating 112 a dental restoration based on the customized digital design. The dental restoration may be fabricated 112 using computer-aided manufacturing or other, more traditional fabrication techniques.
The present disclosure may be embodied as a system 10 for automatically generating a customized digital design of a dental restoration. The system 10 comprises a processor 12, such as, for example, a desktop computer. The processor 12 is in electronic communication with a storage device 14, such as, for example, a hard drive or a solid-state device (i.e., flash drive). The system 10 further comprises a communication interface 16. For example, the communication interface 16 may be a network interface card (“NIC”) for communicating with a computer network. In another exemplary embodiment, the communication interface 16 is an input device, for example, a CD-ROM drive. In an exemplary embodiment, a desktop computer may comprise the processor 12, storage device 14, and communication interface 16.
The processor 12 of the system 10 is programmed to receive an electronic order at the communication interface 16. For example, the communication interface 16 may be in communication with the Internet, and an electronic order may be transmitted from a dental lab, over the Internet, to the communication interface 16. The electronic order includes an electronic case. The electronic case may be, for example, a digital model of a dentition of a patient. In another embodiment, the electronic case is a digital design generated by the dental lab. The electronic order also includes a dental lab identifier. The lab identifier may be the name of the dental lab, a unique identification number assigned to the lab, or any other identifier used to uniquely identify the dental lab.
The processor 12 is further programmed to retrieve a set of design parameters from the storage device 14 using the dental lab identifier. The set of design parameters may comprises one or more design parameters such as those previously mentioned (for example, library selection, base cement spacing, surface cement spacing, margin line distance, drill radius/offset, contact point value, distance to antagonist, and/or other design parameters).
The system 10 may further comprise a scanner 18, such as, for example, a 3-dimensional scanner, suitable for scanning a dental model to produce a corresponding digital model.
The presently disclosed methods and systems provide dental labs with a completely customized dental restoration to fulfill their specific requirements of fit, anatomy, and shape. Additionally, dental restorations fabricated using the present disclosure are tailored and do not have a standardized look. As such, each dental lab feels that dental restorations produced using the customized digital designs are custom made for that lab. Also, the milling service provider can better predict the outcome of each case because of the individuality of the customized digital design.
A milling provider typically receives work from dental lab customers in three different ways (a particular lab will generally use one of the below):
A set of values (i.e., design parameters) is created in order to individualize each dental lab's requirements for design and its milling parameters for dental restorations. These values may include the type of dental anatomy library to be used and other design parameters that will be adapted based on feedback from the lab until proper fit is achieved and the ideal milling strategy is selected.
This allows for each and every lab to receive a restoration incorporating their own preferences regarding anatomy used, fit parameters, inter-proximal contacts and occlusal clearance.
If the lab sends models to the service provider (i.e., category 1 as described above):
If the lab sends digital scans to the service provider for processing (i.e., category 2):
If the lab sends digital designs (i.e., category 3):
Although the present invention has been described with respect to one or more particular embodiments, it will be understood that other embodiments of the present invention may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
