Not Applicable
This invention relates to the field of orthodontics, and more particularly to a system and method for computerized tooth alignment.
The orthodontics process intends to realign or reposition a patient's teeth to positions where the teeth function optimally and aesthetically. Typically, appliances such as braces are applied to the teeth of the patient by a treating orthodontist. Each appliance exerts continual forces on the teeth which gradually urge the teeth toward their ideal positions. Over a period of time, the orthodontist adjusts the appliances to move the teeth toward their final destination.
The process of attaching the braces to teeth is tedious and painful. Additionally, each visit to the orthodontist is time consuming and expensive. The process is further complicated by uncertainties in determining a final arrangement for each tooth. Generally, the final tooth arrangement is determined by the treating orthodontist who writes a prescription. Traditionally, the prescription is based on the orthodontist's knowledge and expertise in selecting the intended final position of each tooth and without a precise calculation of forces being exerted on the teeth when they contact each other.
Continuous efforts are being made to automate the orthodontics process so that a user can be served better with comparable or better results than traditional techniques.
In one embodiment, a method for managing plural impressions of a patient's jaw for an orthodontic treatment is provided. The method includes scanning at least a first impression and a second impression of a jaw for the orthodontic treatment; determining if the first jaw impression and the second jaw impression have distortion in different areas; selecting the first jaw impression or the second jaw impression as a base impression; and replacing a distorted tooth data from the base impression with data for the same tooth from a non-base impression.
In another embodiment, system for managing plural impressions of a patient's jaw for orthodontic treatment is provided. The system includes a processing module for determining if a first jaw impression and a second jaw impression have distortion in different areas; selecting the first jaw impression or the second jaw impression as a base impression; and replacing a distorted tooth data from the base impression with data for the distorted tooth from a non-base impression.
In yet another embodiment, a method for reconstructing a tooth occlusal surface for an orthodontic treatment is provided. The method includes scanning at least a first jaw impression for the orthodontic treatment; scanning a bite impression for the orthodontic treatment; matching the scanned first jaw impression with the scanned bite impression; comparing bite information with a tooth occlusal surface; and determining if reconstruction is to be performed on the tooth occlusal surface.
In yet another embodiment, a system for reconstructing a tooth occlusal surface for an orthodontic treatment is provided. The system includes a processing module for matching a scanned first jaw impression with a scanned bite impression; comparing bite information with a tooth occlusal surface; and determining if reconstruction is to be performed on the tooth occlusal surface.
This brief summary has been provided so that the nature of the invention may be understood quickly. A more complete understanding can be obtained by reference to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof in connection with the attached drawings.
The foregoing features and other features of the various embodiment will now be described with reference to the drawings of a preferred embodiment. In the drawings, the same components have the same reference numerals. The illustrated embodiment is intended to illustrate, but not to limit the invention. The drawings include the following Figures:
In one embodiment, a system and method for automatically aligning teeth is provided. The system can be implemented in software executed by a computing system or by hardware. To facilitate an understanding of the various embodiments, the general architecture and operation of a computing system will be described first. The specific process under the various embodiments is then described with reference to the general architecture.
Computing System Overview:
Computer 2 includes a computer-readable memory storage device 10 for storing readable data. Besides other programs, storage device 10 can store application programs including computer executable code, according to one embodiment. According to one embodiment, computer 2 can also access computer-readable removable storage devices storing data files, application program files, and computer executable process steps embodying the present invention or the like via a removable memory device 12 (for example, a CD-ROM, CD-R/W, flash memory device, zip drives, floppy drives and others).
A modem, an integrated services digital network (ISDN) connection, or the like also provide computer 2 with a network connection 14, to a network of computers/devices. The network connection 14 allows computer 2 to download data files, application program files and computer-executable process steps embodying the present invention.
It is noteworthy that the adaptive aspects disclosed herein are not limited to the
Also shown in
Storage device 10 also interfaces to computing system 2 through the computer bus 18. Storage device 10 may be disks, tapes, drums, integrated circuits, or the like, operative to hold data by any means, including magnetically, electrically, optically, and the like. Storage device 10 stores operating system program files, application program files, computer-executable process steps of the present disclosure and other files. Some of these files are stored on storage device 10 using an installation program. For example, CPU 16 executes computer-executable process steps of an installation program so that CPU 16 can properly execute the application program.
Random access memory (“RAM”) 24 also interfaces with computer bus 18 to provide CPU 16 with access to memory storage. When executing stored computer-executable process steps from storage device 10, CPU 16 stores and executes the process steps out of RAM 24.
Read only memory (“ROM”) 26 is provided to store invariant instruction sequences such as start-up instruction sequences or basic input/output operating system (BIOS) sequences.
Computing system 2 can be connected to other computing systems through a network interface 28 using computer bus 18 and a network connection (for example 14). Network interface 28 may be adapted to one or more of a wide variety of networks, including local area networks, storage area networks, wide area networks, the Internet, and the like.
In one aspect, alignment software may be supplied on a CD-ROM or a floppy disk or alternatively could be read from the network via network interface 28. In yet another aspect, computing system 2 can load alignment software from other computer readable media such as magnetic tape, a ROM, integrated circuit, or a magneto-optical disk. Alternatively, alignment software is installed onto the storage device 10 of computing system 2 using an installation program and is executed using the CPU 16.
In yet another aspect, alignment software may be implemented by using an Application Specific Integrated Circuit that interfaces with computing system 2.
Automated Process Overview:
Methods have been developed to reposition a patient's teeth from an initial tooth arrangement to a final tooth arrangement according to a planned course of treatment using a series of appliances. The process starts when a patient visits an orthodontist/dentist/medical professional/dental laboratory (collectively and interchangeably, as applicable, referred to as the “medical professional”). The medical professional takes jaw impressions that are then sent to an automation center. One such facility is provided by Align Technology Inc., the assignee of the present application.
The automation center digitally scans the jaw impression. The jaw impression is then analyzed by computer modeling software. The modeling software segments all teeth in the jaw impression. Each tooth is stored as an object. Teeth movement is staged over a period of time and appliances are fabricated.
A series of incremental position adjustment appliances are placed over the patient's teeth to gradually reposition the teeth. Each appliance represents a stage in a series of stages for repositioning teeth. The patient wears each appliance until the pressure of each appliance on the teeth can no longer be felt. At that point, the patient replaces the current adjustment appliance with the next adjustment appliance in the series until no more appliances remain.
A problem occurs when a medical professional sends more than one impression for the same jaw. When the same jaw impressions are scanned the distortion between the different jaw impressions can be significant. The adaptive aspects solve this problem, as described below. Prior to describing the actual process, the following overview is provided.
A computer model of jaws 38 and 40 is generated, and a computer simulation models interactions among the teeth on jaws 38 and 40. The computer simulation allows the system to focus on motions involving contacts between teeth mounted on the jaws and to render realistic jaw movements that are physically correct when jaws 38 and 40 contact each other. The model of the jaw places the individual teeth in a treated position. Further, the model can be used to simulate jaw movements including protrusive motions, lateral motions, and “tooth guided” motions where the path of lower jaw 40 is guided by teeth contacts rather than by anatomical limits of jaws 38 and 40. Motions are applied to one jaw, but may also be applied to both jaws. Based on the occlusion determination, the final position of the teeth can be ascertained.
Referring now to
As set forth in the prior applications, each polymeric shell may be configured so that its tooth-receiving cavity has a geometry corresponding to an intermediate or final tooth arrangement intended for appliance 54. The patient's teeth are repositioned from their initial tooth arrangement to a final tooth arrangement by placing a series of incremental position adjustment appliances over the patient's teeth. The adjustment appliances are generated at the beginning of the treatment from an impression taken from the patient's teeth. The patient wears each appliance until the pressure of each appliance on the teeth can no longer be felt. At that point, the patient moves onto the next stage of the planned course of treatment and replaces the current adjustment appliance with the next adjustment appliance in the series until no more appliances remain. Conveniently, the appliances are generally not affixed to the teeth and the patient may place and replace the appliances at any time during the procedure.
The polymeric shell 54 can fit over all teeth present in the upper or lower jaw. Often, only certain one(s) of the teeth will be repositioned while others of the teeth will provide a base or an anchor region for holding appliance 54 in place as appliance 54 applies a resilient repositioning force against the tooth or teeth to be repositioned. In complex cases, however, multiple teeth may be repositioned at some point during the treatment. In such cases, the moved teeth can also serve as a base or anchor region for holding the repositioning appliance.
Polymeric appliance 54 of
It is noteworthy that instead of segmentation, surface matching may be used to accomplish the adaptive aspects described below. Commercially available software, such as “Geomagic Qualify” available from Geomagic Inc. may be used to accomplish this task.
It is noteworthy that although
Multi-Jaw Impression Alignment Process Flow:
In step S602, both the impressions are scanned. A digital image is created for both the impressions. A scanning system (not shown) is used to scan the three-dimensional jaw impressions. Thereafter, the scanned imaged is segmented or a surface match using commercial software, for example, Geomagic Qualify is used to duplicate a mesh from one tooth to another.
In step S604, a user using system 56 first aligns both jaw impressions and matches them within certain parameters. For example, parameters include exclusion of certain teeth that may be misaligned, while matching undistorted corresponding teeth between two arches, as discussed below. The user examines both impressions after the alignment and determines if the two impressions have distortion in separate areas/teeth. If the answer is no, then one of the impressions is selected and the process continues (step S606).
If in step S604, the user determines that there is distortion in two separate teeth, then in step S608, one of the jaw impression is selected as a base impression. This is illustrated in
In step S610, the user having selected a base impression, swaps tooth image/data for the distorted tooth from the non-base impression where the corresponding tooth is undistorted. For example, as shown in
In step S612, the jaw impression is completed.
One advantage of the foregoing process is that the medical professional does not have to take another impression. A technician can also pick and match data from more than one source to create a complete digital object. This is helpful to the medical professional and to the patients.
Multiple Impression/Bite Data:
In some instances, a dental laboratory may provide more than one impression and also provide a bite scan for the jaws. The bite scan is used to fill in defects that occur in a jaw impression.
Turning in detail to
In step S702, the bite impression and the jaw impressions are digitally scanned. In step S704, the jaw impressions are digitally matched to the bite impression. In step S706, the process compares bite information with a tooth occlusal surface. If reconstruction is needed (step S708), then the tooth is reconstructed in step S712. In this step, processing module 56C reconstructs missing data, removes excess data or fixes distortion. If reconstruction is not needed, then the process moves to alignment in step S710, which is similar to the steps shown in
In one aspect of the present disclosure, digital tooth detailing is automated. This also allows for automatic bite creation for complex cases. Furthermore, missing or distorted information is identified on the occlusal surface and is also corrected automatically.
It is noteworthy that the foregoing embodiments are not limited to any particular number of jaw impressions, i.e. more than two impressions may be used the same result. Furthermore, more than two impressions with a PVS bite scan may also be used to for defect correction.
While the present disclosure is described above with respect to what is currently considered its preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited to that described above. To the contrary, the disclosure is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
This application is a continuation of co-pending application Ser. No. 16/823,911, filed Mar. 19, 2020, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,007,037; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 16/558,826, filed Sep. 3, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,646,307; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 16/419,877, filed May 22, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,405,947; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 16/172,529, filed Oct. 26, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,335,252; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/836,105, filed Dec. 8, 2017, now U.S. Pat. No. 10,143,537; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 15/053,712, filed Feb. 25, 2016, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,839,494; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 14/670,137, filed Mar. 26, 2015, now U.S. Pat. No. 9,301,814; which is a continuation of application Ser. No. 13/051,759, filed Mar. 18, 2011, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,995,732; which is a divisional application of application Ser. No. 11/678,749, filed Feb. 26, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,916,911. The disclosures of all the aforementioned applications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 11678749 | Feb 2007 | US |
Child | 13051759 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16823911 | Mar 2020 | US |
Child | 17322164 | US | |
Parent | 16558826 | Sep 2019 | US |
Child | 16823911 | US | |
Parent | 16419877 | May 2019 | US |
Child | 16558826 | US | |
Parent | 16172529 | Oct 2018 | US |
Child | 16419877 | US | |
Parent | 15836105 | Dec 2017 | US |
Child | 16172529 | US | |
Parent | 15053712 | Feb 2016 | US |
Child | 15836105 | US | |
Parent | 14670137 | Mar 2015 | US |
Child | 15053712 | US | |
Parent | 13051759 | Mar 2011 | US |
Child | 14670137 | US |