Customized dental impression tray
Assignee3Shape A/S
InventorRune Fisker
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Disclosed are methods and systems for generating a virtual model of a customized impression tray and for manufacturing such a customized impression tray. A 3D digital representation of a patient's set of teeth is obtained and a virtual model of the customized impression tray is generated, where the generating comprises shaping the virtual model of the customized impression tray according to the 3D digital representation.
Claims21
A method for manufacturing a customized impression tray comprising labial and lingual side-walls, where said customized impression tray is for obtaining an impression of a set of teeth and/or gingiva of a patient, said method comprising:
- a) obtaining a 3D digital representation of the set of teeth and/or gingiva using a hardware processor, wherein the 3D digital representation of the set of teeth and/or gingiva was acquired by a scanner that scanned at least one of the teeth and/or gingiva of the patient, a physical model of the set of teeth and/or gingiva, or an impression of the set of teeth and/or gingiva, where said 3D digital representation comprises a labial surface and a lingual surface of the set of teeth and/or gingiva;
- b) generating, by the hardware processor, the virtual model of the customized impression tray based on the 3D digital representation of the set of teeth and/or gingiva, where the virtual model comprises portions corresponding to surfaces of the labial and lingual side-walls facing surfaces of the set of teeth and/or gingiva;
- and
- c) manufacturing the customized impression tray from the virtual model,
- wherein generating the virtual model comprises defining virtual apertures in the virtual model of the customized impression tray, such that the corresponding apertures on the manufactured customized impression tray provide a passage for excess impression material when the customized impression tray is used to obtain the impression of the set of teeth and/or gingiva;
- wherein the virtual apertures are defined in the virtual model by indicating regions to be removed using 3D splines or by overlaying an aperture pattern onto the virtual model where the aperture pattern comprises a number of regions indicating where material should be virtually removed from the virtual model.
A method of manufacturing a customized impression tray adapted for being used in relation to obtaining an impression of a set of teeth and/or gingiva of a patient where the customized impression tray comprises a lingual side-wall and a labial side-wall, said method comprising:
- a) obtaining a 3D digital representation of the set of teeth and/or gingiva, where said 3D digital representation comprises a labial surface and a lingual surface of the set of teeth and/or gingiva;
- b) generating a virtual model of the customized impression tray based on the digital 3D representation of the set of teeth and/or gingiva, where the virtual model comprises portions corresponding to surfaces of the labial and lingual side-walls facing surfaces of the set of teeth and/or gingiva;
- and
- c) manufacturing the customized impression tray from said virtual model, the customized impression tray comprising apertures which provide a passage for excess impression material when the customized impression tray is used to obtain the impression of the set of teeth and/or gingiva;
- wherein virtual apertures are defined in the virtual model by indicating regions to be removed using 3D splines or by overlaying an aperture pattern onto the virtual model where the aperture pattern comprises a number of regions indicating where material should be virtually removed from the virtual model.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.