Method for determining an orthodontic treatment plan

A method for generating a plan for the orthodontic treatment plan of a user's dental arch, the method comprising the following consecutive steps:

• a) generating or retrieving an “initial” model representing said dental arch in three dimensions at an initial moment, said initial model being broken down into tooth models, and generating or retrieving a “final” model representing said dental arch with a “final” arrangement of tooth models desired at the end of the orthodontic treatment;
• b) determining, using a computer, a set of successive elementary deformations transforming the initial model into the final model by moving the tooth models, said elementary deformations each adhering to a respective set of constraints, the models resulting from the successive elementary deformations being called “transition models”, the succession of the set of successive transition models being called a “basic deformation scenario”;
• c) determining, using the computer,
• a duration for deforming the dental arch according to the deformation scenario, from the initial moment until the final arrangement is obtained at a final moment;
• and
• intermediate moments between the initial and final moments for performing the deformation of the dental arch according to the basic deformation scenario, the intermediate moments being moments at which an inspection of the arch by a dental practitioner and/or a modification of an orthodontic appliance and/or a fabrication of an orthodontic appliance is/are planned,
• the basic deformation scenario and said intermediate moments defining said orthodontic treatment plan, known as the “basic orthodontic treatment plan”.