Method for performing an optical three-dimensional recording

A method of recording three-dimensional images of a physical jaw using a dental camera, comprising:

• displaying a virtual three-dimensional standard jaw model on a display device;
• displaying a plurality of first and second virtual control points on a plurality of first and second virtual teeth of the virtual three-dimensional standard jaw model respectively;
• determining a plurality of virtual recording paths each disposed between two virtual teeth said plurality of virtual recording paths each disposed between two virtual teeth are defined by a plurality of visible paths with each visible path of the plurality of visible paths disposed between one of the plurality of first virtual control points on one of the plurality of first virtual teeth and one of the plurality of second virtual control points on one of the plurality of second virtual teeth;
• displaying said plurality of virtual recording paths each disposed between two virtual teeth on the three-dimensional standard jaw model;
• sequentially operating the camera to automatically generate a plurality of three-dimensional images of the physical jaw in succession along portions of the physical jaw corresponding to the plurality of virtual recording paths, by moving the dental camera, for each virtual recording path of the plurality of virtual recording paths, relative to the physical jaw and automatically recording the plurality of three-dimensional images, for each virtual recording path, at a constant frequency, the automatic recording at the constant frequency starts from a portion of the physical jaw corresponding to a first virtual tooth, follows a direction of the virtual recording path, and ends at another portion of the physical jaw corresponding to a second virtual tooth.