Systems and methods for designing and manufacturing an orthodontic appliance

A system for defining a trimline for use in the manufacturing of an aligner, the system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• non-transitory memory including program code;
• the processor configured by the program code to:
• receive a 3-D digital model of a patient's teeth projecting from a modeled gingiva;
• place a margin point proximate a gingival margin at each tooth on a jaw in the 3-D digital model;
• generate a trimline connecting the margin points;
• validate the trimline against at least one predetermined parameter after moving the at least one control point;
• indicate that the trimline is invalid after validating;
• change a color of an invalid portion of the trimline relative to a color of any valid portion of the trimline;
• generate machine code from the trimline for a corresponding aligner;
• and
• store the machine code in the memory for generating the trimline on the corresponding aligner.

A computer-implemented method of defining a trimline for use in the manufacturing of an aligner, the method comprising:

• receiving a 3-D digital model of a patient's teeth at one stage of treatment, the patient's teeth projecting from a modeled gingiva;
• placing a margin point proximate a gingival margin at each tooth on at least one jaw in the 3-D digital model;
• generating a trimline connecting the plurality of margin points, the trimline being for an aligner for use at the one stage of treatment;
• following generating the trimline at the one stage of treatment, generating a second trimline for the patient's teeth at another stage of treatment in which at least one of the patient's teeth in the 3-D digital model is in a different position than at the one stage of treatment,
• wherein generating the second trimline includes morphing the trimline at the one stage of treatment in accordance with a change in position of the at least one of the patient's teeth and corresponding margin point;
• generating machine code from the second trimline;
• and
• storing the machine code in a non-transitory medium for preparing the second trimline of an aligner for the another stage of treatment.

A computer-implemented method of defining a trimline in relation to a 3-D digital model of teeth including modeled gingiva, the trimline being for use in the manufacturing of an aligner, the method comprising:

• placing a margin point proximate a gingival margin at each tooth on at least one jaw in the 3-D digital model;
• generating a trimline connecting the plurality of margin points;
• adding at least one control point on the trimline between two margin points;
• moving the at least one control point occlusally relative to the two margin points and wherein the trimline follows the control point;
• following moving the at least one control point, validating the trimline between the two margin points, including through the at least one control point, against at least one predetermined parameter;
• generating machine code from the trimline, and
• manufacturing the aligner and wherein an edge of the aligner is configured to correlate with the trimline according to the machine code,
• wherein after validating, determining that the trimline is invalid and after determining that the trimline is invalid, visually indicating an invalid portion of the trimline relative to a visual indication of any valid portion of the trimline,
• wherein at least one tooth in the 3-D digital model cooperates with the modeled gingiva to define a line around the at least one tooth, and wherein the trimline includes at least one tooth curve and at least one connector curve connected to the at least one tooth curve at a transition point, the tooth curve being defined in at least one of curvature and location by the line around the at least one tooth and passing through at least one margin point.

A computer-implemented method of defining a trimline in relation to a 3-D digital model of teeth including modeled gingiva, the trimline being for use in the manufacturing of an aligner, the method comprising:

• placing a margin point proximate a gingival margin at each tooth on at least one jaw in the 3-D digital model;
• generating a trimline connecting the plurality of margin points;
• adding at least one control point on the trimline between two margin points;
• moving the at least one control point occlusally relative to the two margin points and wherein the trimline follows the control point;
• following moving the at least one control point, validating the trimline between the two margin points, including through the at least one control point, against at least one predetermined parameter;
• generating machine code from the trimline, and
• manufacturing the aligner and wherein an edge of the aligner is configured to correlate with the trimline according to the machine code,
• wherein after validating, determining that the trimline is invalid and after determining that the trimline is invalid, visually indicating an invalid portion of the trimline relative to a visual indication of any valid portion of the trimline,
• wherein the at least one predetermined parameter includes one or more of a minimum clinical radius, a minimum tool radius, and a minimum labial-lingual distance.

A system for defining a trimline in relation to a 3-D digital model of teeth including modeled gingiva, the trimline being for use in the manufacturing of an aligner, the system comprising:

• a processor;
• and
• a memory including program code;
• the processor configured by the program code to:
• place a margin point proximate a gingival margin at each tooth on a jaw in the 3-D digital model;
• generate a trimline connecting the margin points;
• validate the trimline against at least one predetermined parameter after moving the at least one control point;
• indicate that the trimline is invalid after validating;
• change a color of an invalid portion of the trimline relative to a color of any valid portion of the trimline;
• and
• generate machine code from the trimline;
• and
• a manufacturing system in which the machine code is usable to form an edge of an aligner.