Treatment progress tracking and recalibration

A method of managing delivery and patient progression through an orthodontic treatment plan, comprising:

• providing an initial treatment plan for a patient, the plan comprising a plurality of planned successive tooth arrangements for moving teeth along a treatment path from an initial arrangement toward a selected final arrangement;
• providing a set of orthodontic appliances, the set comprising a plurality of appliances shaped to move teeth at least partially along the treatment path;
• tracking progression of the patient's teeth along the treatment path, the tracking comprising receiving a digital representation of an actual arrangement of the patients teeth following administration of the set of appliances;
• and comparing the actual arrangement with a planned arrangement to determine if the actual arrangement of the teeth matches a planned tooth arrangement;
• determining whether the actual arrangement of the teeth substantially deviates from the planned tooth arrangement;
• and
• generating a revised treatment plan where it is determined that the actual tooth arrangement substantially deviates from the planned tooth arrangement, the revised treatment plan comprising a plurality of successive tooth arrangements to move the teeth along a revised treatment path from the actual position directly toward the originally selected final tooth position.

A system for managing delivery and patient progression through an orthodontic treatment plan, the system comprising a computer coupled to a server, the computer comprising a processor and a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, if executed, cause the computer to:

• receiving a digital representation of an actual arrangement of a patient's teeth after the orthodontic treatment plan has begun for the patient and prior to completion of the orthodontic treatment plan;
• comparing the actual arrangement to a pre-determined planned arrangement to determine if the actual arrangement deviates from the planned arrangement, the comparing comprising matching teeth from a previously segmented model to a surface of an unsegmented representation of the actual arrangement;
• and calculating one or more positional differences between the actual and planned arrangements of at least some of the corresponding teeth;
• and
• generating a revised treatment plan where it is determined that the actual arrangement deviates from the planned arrangement.

A system for managing delivery and patient progression through an orthodontic treatment plan, the system comprising a computer coupled to a server, the computer comprising a processor and a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, if executed, cause the computer to:

• generate an initial treatment plan for a patient including enhanced tracking of the patient's treatment progress, the initial treatment plan comprising a plurality of planned successive tooth arrangements for moving teeth along a treatment path from an initial arrangement toward a selected final arrangement, wherein the treatment plan comprises one or more phases, with each phase comprising a pre-planned tracking step to determine whether the patient's treatment is progressing on track;
• provide a set of orthodontic appliances corresponding to a treatment phase, the set comprising a plurality of appliances shaped to move teeth at least partially along the treatment path;
• track progression of the patient's teeth along a treatment path following each treatment phase, the tracking comprising receiving a digital representation of an actual arrangement of the patients teeth following administration of the set of appliances;
• and comparing the actual arrangement with a planned arrangement to determine if the actual arrangement of the teeth matches a planned tooth arrangement;
• determine whether the actual arrangement of the teeth substantially deviates from the planned tooth arrangement;
• and
• generate a revised treatment plan where it is determined that the actual tooth arrangement substantially deviates from the planned tooth arrangement, the revised treatment plan comprising a plurality of successive tooth arrangements to move the teeth along a revised treatment path from the actual position directly toward the originally selected final tooth position.