Preventing interference between tooth models
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorHuafeng Wen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed to prevent interference between two physical tooth models in a physical dental arch model by acquiring the coordinates of a plurality of points on the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models and digitally representing the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models by a mesh of points in three dimensions using the acquired coordinates. The meshes representing the surfaces of the two physical tooth models intersect at least at one point to form an overlapping portion. The method also includes calculating the depth of the overlapping portion between the two meshes to quantify the interference of the two physical tooth models.
Claims19
A method for mounting at least two physical tooth models on a physical dental arch model, comprising:
- acquiring coordinates of a plurality of points on the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models;
- digitally representing the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models as a mesh of points in three dimensions using the acquired coordinates, wherein the meshes representing the surfaces of the two physical tooth models intersect at least at one point to form an overlapping portion;
- and
- calculating the depth of the overlapping portion between the two meshes to quantify the interference of the two physical tooth models.
A method for preventing interference between two physical tooth models in a physical dental arch model, comprising:
- acquiring the coordinates of a plurality of points on the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models;
- digitally representing the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models by a mesh of points in three dimensions using the acquired coordinates, wherein the meshes representing the surfaces of the two physical tooth models intersect at least at one point to form an overlapping portion;
- calculating the depth of the overlapping portion between the two meshes;
- and
- adjusting the positions or the orientations of at least one of the two physical tooth models in accordance with the depth of the overlapping portion between the two physical tooth models to prevent the interference between the physical tooth models.
A method for preventing interference between two physical tooth models in a physical dental arch model, comprising:
- acquiring the coordinates of a plurality of points on the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models;
- digitally representing the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models by a mesh of points in three dimensions using the acquired coordinates;
- interpolating each of the two meshes to produce one or more surfaces to represent the boundaries of one of the two physical tooth models, wherein the interpolated surfaces intersect at least at one point to form an overlapping portion;
- and
- calculating the depth of the overlapping portion between the two interpolated surfaces to quantify the interference of the two physical tooth models.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.