Intraoral 3D scanning with automatic charting

A method for intraoral imaging, comprising:

• (a) generating a plurality of output imaging signals from an intraoral probe, wherein the plurality of output imaging signals are directed along a common axis and wherein the plurality of output imaging signals differ from each other in at least one of wavelength range, wavelength sequence, bandwidth, or coherence length;
• (b) acquiring multimodal image content from each of a plurality of intraoral surface locations for a patient's dentition according to tissue response to the plurality of output imaging signals and associating spatial coordinates to the multimodal image content;
• (c) generating a stitched surface contour of the patient's dentition by reconstructing and stitching from a data subset of the multimodal image content, and preserving an association of spatial coordinates of the multimodal image content to the stitched surface contour;
• (d) generating tooth outlines for one or more teeth from the stitched surface contour and arranging the tooth outlines as a dental chart representing a spatial ordering of the one or more teeth according to the association of the spatial coordinates;
• (e) populating the dental chart by analyzing the multimodal image content and associating results of the analyzing to positions on the dental chart according to the association of spatial coordinates;
• and
• (f) displaying the dental chart.

A method for intraoral imaging, comprising:

• (a) obtaining multimodal image content at each of a plurality of intraoral surface locations from an intraoral probe that is configured to sequentially:
• (i) direct polychromatic visible illumination to each of the plurality of intraoral surface locations and acquire surface image content associated with each of the plurality of intraoral surface locations from reflected polychromatic light;
• and
• (ii) direct a surface contour imaging signal to each of the plurality of intraoral surface locations;
• (b) reconstructing a surface contour from the multimodal image content, wherein the reconstruction preserves a spatial association of the surface image content and the surface contour;
• (c) generating tooth outlines for one or more teeth from the surface contour and arranging the tooth outlines as a dental chart representing a spatial ordering of the one or more teeth and of supporting gum tissue adjacent to the one or more teeth;
• (d) analyzing the multimodal image content;
• (c) populating the dental chart by associating analysis results to positions on the dental chart;
• and
• (f) displaying the dental chart.

A method for intraoral imaging, comprising:

• (a) obtaining multimodal image content at each of a plurality of surface locations within a patient's dentition from an intraoral probe that is configured to sequentially:
• (i) direct polychromatic visible illumination to each of the plurality of surface locations and acquire 2D image content associated with each of the plurality of surface locations from reflected polychromatic light;
• and
• (ii) direct a point-by-point scan sequence of coherent light beams that penetrate points at each of the plurality of surface locations, modulating a wavelength of the coherent light beams at each penetrated point over a wavelength range, to acquire an interference signal having depth-resolved image content;
• wherein the polychromatic visible illumination and sequence of coherent light beams are directed along a common optical axis of the intraoral probe;
• (b) reconstructing a surface contour of the patient's dentition from the multimodal image content, wherein the reconstruction preserves an association of the 2D image content and the depth-resolved image content with each of the plurality of surface locations;
• (c) generating tooth outlines for one or more teeth from the surface contour and arranging the tooth outlines as a dental chart representing a spatial ordering of the one or more teeth and of supporting gum tissue adjacent to the one or more teeth;
• (d) analyzing the multimodal image content and populating the dental chart by associating analysis results to positions on the dental chart;
• and
• (e) displaying the dental chart.

An intraoral probe, comprising:

• (a) signal generation circuitry within a body of the intraoral probe for generating one or more output imaging signals;
• (b) one or more imaging sensors within the body of the intraoral probe for generating multimodal image content from each of a plurality of intraoral surface locations for a patient's dentition according to detected tissue response to the one or more output imaging signals;
• (c) a control logic processor in signal communication with the signal generation circuitry and with the one or more imaging sensors and configured with programmed instructions to:
• (i) associate spatial coordinates corresponding to the plurality of intraoral surface locations with the multimodal image content;
• (ii) generate a stitched surface contour of the patient's dentition by reconstructing and stitching from a data subset of the multimodal image content while preserving an association of the spatial coordinates of the multimodal image content to the stitched surface contour;
• (iii) generate tooth outlines for one or more teeth from the stitched surface contour;
• (iv) arrange the tooth outlines as a dental chart representing a spatial ordering of the one or more teeth and of supporting gum tissue adjacent to the one or more teeth;
• (v) populate the dental chart by analyzing the multimodal image content and by associating results of the analyzing to positions on the dental chart according to the association of the spatial coordinates;
• and
• (d) a display in signal communication with the control logic processor for displaying the dental chart.