Automatic intraoral 3D scanner using light sheet active triangulation

A method for intraoral scanning comprising:

• a) providing a mouthpiece having a scanner apparatus with a camera, wherein the scanner apparatus is movable along a first curved track and a second curved track within the mouthpiece and scans a line of light onto a subject surface that is within the camera FOV, and wherein the scanner apparatus is configured for moving between the first curved track and the second curved track at a transition;
• b) urging the scanner apparatus in a forward direction along the first curved track to a first position;
• c) scanning the subject surface while urging the scanner apparatus forward from the first position along the first curved track to a second position;
• d) moving the scanner apparatus from the first curved track to the second curved track at the transition;
• and
• e) urging the scanner apparatus along the second curved track in a backward direction with respect to the first curved track and at least to the first position.

A method for intraoral scanning comprising:

• a) in response to an operator instruction, indexing a scanner apparatus in a first direction to a first position along a first curved track along an intraoral mouthpiece;
• b) scanning at least a first tooth between the first position and a second position along the first curved track;
• c) moving the scanner apparatus from the first curved track to a second curved track;
• d) moving the scanner apparatus along the second curved track and scanning at least the first tooth by indexing the scanner apparatus in a second direction opposite the first direction;
• e) processing scanning results to generate surface contour for at least the first tooth;
• and
• f) displaying the surface contour for at least the first tooth.