Techniques for determining patient teeth positions for orthodontics
AssigneeLightForce Orthodontics, Inc.
InventorAlexander Yarmarkovich
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Techniques are described for moving and aligning groups of teeth, including the teeth of an entire arch, for orthodontic treatment planning. One or more 3D models each representing one of a plurality of the patient's teeth may be analyzed to identify feature points that represent clinically relevant reference points on the tooth. An arch shape may be generated based on the feature points. One or more control points, which characterize the path of the arch shape, may then be generated (e.g., from the identified feature points). A user may provide input that modifies the positions of one or more of the control points to adjust the arrangement of teeth, thereby producing a new arch shape, and new positions of the teeth may be determined according to the new arch shape.
Claims25
A computer-implemented method for determining target positions of a patient's teeth for an orthodontic procedure, the method comprising:
- using at least one processor:
- determining a first arch shape for initial positions of a plurality of teeth based on a plurality of feature points that each identifies a location with respect to one of the plurality of teeth;
- determining a plurality of control points for characterizing the first arch shape;
- receiving user input indicative of a change in position of one or more of the plurality of control points, thereby defining a modified plurality of control points;
- determining a second arch shape that is a shape of an archwire, and is based on the modified plurality of control points;
- and
- determining positions of a plurality of 3D models of the patient's teeth based on the second arch shape.
At least one non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, perform a method for determining target positions of a patient's teeth for an orthodontic procedure, the method comprising:
- determining a first arch shape for initial positions of a plurality of teeth based on a plurality of feature points that each identifies a location with respect to one of the plurality of teeth;
- determining a plurality of control points for characterizing the first arch shape;
- receiving user input indicative of a change in position of one or more of the plurality of control points, thereby defining a modified plurality of control points;
- determining a second arch shape that is a shape of an archwire, and is based on the modified plurality of control points;
- and
- determining positions of a plurality of 3D models of the patient's teeth based on the second arch shape.
A system comprising:
- at least one processor;
- and
- at least one non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, perform a method for determining positions of a plurality of feature points of a patient's tooth based on a statistical tooth model, the method comprising:
- determining a first arch shape for initial positions of a plurality of teeth based on a plurality of feature points that each identifies a location with respect to one of the plurality of teeth;
- determining a plurality of control points for characterizing the first arch shape;
- receiving user input indicative of a change in position of one or more of the plurality of control points, thereby defining a modified plurality of control points;
- determining a second arch shape that is a shape of an archwire, and is based on the modified plurality of control points;
- and
- determining positions of a plurality of 3D models of the patient's teeth based on the second arch shape.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.