Method and apparatus for electronically generating a color dental occlusion map within electronic model images

A system for electronically generating a color dental occlusion map within electronic model images, the method comprising:

• means for generating a electronic model of an upper set of teeth and a lower set of teeth;
• means for manipulating a spatial separation of the upper set of teeth relative to the lower set of teeth along a path defined by a point of rotation and a known radius of rotation;
• means for calculating a distance to an opposing mesh surface for each triangle vertex in a polygonal mesh;
• and
• means for painting a surface of the polygonal mesh within each triangle a color corresponding to the calculated distance between the triangle vertex and the opposing mesh surface for each triangle in the polygonal mesh.

A computer program data product readable by a computing system and encoding instructions implementing a method for electronically generating a color dental occlusion map within electronic model images, the method comprising:

• generating a electronic model of an upper set of teeth and a lower set of teeth;
• manipulating a spatial separation of the upper set of teeth relative to the lower set of teeth along a path defined by a point of rotation and a known radius of rotation;
• for each triangle vertex in a polygonal mesh, calculating a distance to an opposing mesh surface;
• and
• for each triangle in the polygonal mesh, painting a surface of the polygonal mesh within each triangle a color corresponding to the calculated distance between the triangle vertex and the opposing mesh surface.