System and method for improved intra-oral scanning protocol and calibration

A system for producing a three-dimensional model of a dental arch area, the dental arch area including two segments separated by a soft tissue, homogeneous, cross-arch connecting area between the two segments, the system comprising:

• at least one processor;
• and
• at least one storage device comprising instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor, configured the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
• receiving, at a computing device, a scan dataset of a portion of a patient's mouth including the two segments, the soft tissue, homogeneous, cross-arch connecting area, and a connecting-geometry tool with at least one definable feature relative to the dental arch area, the at least one definable feature overlaying at least part of the soft tissue, homogeneous, cross-arch connecting area;
• determining data relating to the at least one definable feature of the connecting-geometry tool overlaying the soft tissue, homogeneous, cross-arch connecting area based on the scan dataset of the portion of the patient's mouth;
• and
• determining dimensions of the soft tissue, homogeneous, cross-arch connecting area based on the data relating to the at least one definable feature.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, the computer-readable storage medium including instructions that when executed by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations of:

• receiving, at a computing device, a scan dataset of a portion of a patient's mouth including a dental arch area having two segments, a soft tissue, homogeneous, cross-arch connecting area, and a connecting-geometry tool with at least one definable feature relative to the dental arch area, the at least one definable feature overlaying at least part of the soft tissue, homogeneous, cross-arch connecting area;
• determining data relating to the at least one definable feature of the connecting-geometry tool overlaying the soft tissue, homogeneous, cross-arch connecting area based on the scan dataset of the portion of the patient's mouth;
• and
• determining dimensions of the soft tissue, homogeneous, cross-arch connecting area based on the data relating to the at least one definable feature.