Method and system for estimating tooth wear type on a virtual model of teeth

A computer-implemented method for detecting tooth wear on a virtual 3D model of a dental situation, the method comprising:

• receiving, by a processor, the virtual 3D model of the dental situation;
• obtaining a segmented 3D model by segmenting the virtual 3D model into a plurality of individual teeth and gingiva, wherein the segmented 3D model comprises a tooth;
• encoding the tooth from the segmented 3D model into a latent space of a trained neural network to obtain an encoded tooth representation, wherein the latent space of the trained neural network is continuous and comprises a plurality of clusters of encoded reference teeth representations, wherein each cluster from the plurality of clusters of encoded reference teeth representations is representative of a tooth wear type;
• comparing the encoded tooth representation to each cluster from the plurality of clusters of encoded reference teeth representations to determine a cluster comprising the encoded tooth representation;
• assigning the tooth wear type to the tooth based on the determined cluster;
• displaying the tooth with the assigned tooth wear type.

A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

• receive the virtual 3D model of the dental situation;
• obtain a segmented 3D model by segmenting the virtual 3D model into a plurality of individual teeth and gingiva, wherein the segmented 3D model comprises a tooth;
• encode the tooth from the segmented 3D model into a latent space of a trained neural network to obtain an encoded tooth representation, wherein the latent space of the trained neural network is continuous and comprises a plurality of clusters of encoded reference teeth representations, wherein each cluster from the plurality of clusters of encoded reference teeth representations is representative of a tooth wear type;
• compare the encoded tooth representation to each cluster from the plurality of clusters of encoded reference teeth representations to determine a cluster comprising the encoded tooth representation;
• assign the tooth wear type to the tooth based on the determined cluster;
• display the tooth with the assigned tooth wear type.

A computer program product comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the computer to:

• receive the virtual 3D model of the dental situation;
• obtain a segmented 3D model by segmenting the virtual 3D model into a plurality of individual teeth and gingiva, wherein the segmented 3D model comprises a tooth;
• encode the tooth from the segmented 3D model into a latent space of a trained neural network to obtain an encoded tooth representation, wherein the latent space of the trained neural network is continuous and comprises a plurality of clusters of encoded reference teeth representations, wherein each cluster from the plurality of clusters of encoded reference teeth representations is representative of a tooth wear type;
• compare the encoded tooth representation to each cluster from the plurality of clusters of encoded reference teeth representations to determine a cluster comprising the encoded tooth representation;
• assign the tooth wear type to the tooth based on the determined cluster;
• display the tooth with the assigned tooth wear type.