Magnetic positioning systems and methods for dental procedures and applications

A method for estimating a position or an orientation of a dental tool, comprising:

• determining a position of each of a plurality of electromagnets removably affixed to an object in a patient's mouth, wherein the object is movable at least based on movements of the patient's mouth, and wherein the position is determined within a tolerance;
• driving the plurality of electromagnets with at least one programmed signal;
• receiving, from a plurality of magnetometers removably affixed to the dental tool that is non-stationary, one or more magnetic field measurements when the dental tool is adjacent to the object;
• and
• determining, based on the one or more magnetic field measurements, the position or the orientation of the dental tool relative to the object.

A dental system, comprising:

• a hand-held dental tool configured to accommodate either, but not both, of (a) a plurality of magnetometers or (b) a plurality of electromagnets,
• wherein an other of the plurality of magnetometers or the plurality of electromagnets not accommodated by the hand-held dental tool are configured to be affixed to an object within a patient's mouth;
• and
• one or more processors configured to:
• drive the plurality of electromagnets with at least one programmed signal,
• receive, from the plurality of magnetometers, magnetic field measurements, and
• determine, based on the magnetic field measurements, a position and an orientation of the hand-held dental tool relative to the object, wherein both the plurality of electromagnets and the plurality of magnetometers are moveable at least due to movements of the hand-held dental tool and movements of the patient's mouth, respectively.