Defining tooth-moving appliances computationally
AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.
InventorsMuhammad Chishti, Elena Pavlovskaia, Gregory P. Bala, Brian M. Freyburger
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Methods and corresponding apparatus for segmenting an orthodontic treatment path into clinically appropriate substeps for repositioning the teeth of a patient include providing a digital finite element model of the shape and material of each of a sequence of appliances to be applied to a patient; providing a digital finite element model of the teeth and related mouth tissue of the patient; computing the actual effect of the appliances on the teeth by analyzing the finite elements models computationally; and evaluating the effect against clinical constraints. The appliances can be braces, polymeric shells, or other forms of orthodontic appliance.
Claims37
A computer-implemented method for designing custom appliances for repositioning the teeth of a patient, comprising:
- scanning a patient's teeth or a physical model thereof to generate a virtual model;
- providing a digital model of each of a plurality of candidate appliances to be applied to a virtual model of the teeth, the candidate appliances having cavities shaped to receive and reposition teeth;
- computing the actual effect of each of the plurality of appliances on repositioning the teeth by performing an analysis on a digital model of the shape and material of each of the plurality of appliances to be applied to the teeth, and a structure of the patient's teeth as set forth in the virtual model;
- and
- generating, based at least partially on the computed effect, a sequence of custom appliances having cavities and wherein the cavities of successive custom appliances have different geometries selected to receive and progressively reposition the teeth, wherein the sequence of custom appliances is generated prior to the patient wearing any appliance of the sequence.
A computer-implemented method for designing custom appliances for repositioning the teeth of a patient, comprising:
- scanning a patient's teeth or a physical model thereof to generate a virtual model;
- providing a digital model of each of a plurality of candidate appliances, the candidate appliances having cavities shaped to receive and reposition teeth;
- computing the actual effect of each of the plurality of appliances on repositioning the teeth by performing finite element analysis on each of the plurality of appliances as applied to a virtual model of the patient's teeth;
- and
- generating, based at least partially on the computed effect, a sequence of custom appliances having cavities and wherein the cavities of successive custom appliances have different geometries selected to receive and progressively reposition the teeth, wherein the sequence of custom appliances is generated prior to the patient wearing any appliance of the sequence.
A computer-implemented method for generating one or more appliances for repositioning the teeth of a patient, comprising:
- scanning a patient's teeth or a physical model thereof;
- providing a digital model of the shape and material of each of a plurality of candidate appliances to be applied to the teeth, the candidate appliances having cavities shaped to receive and reposition teeth;
- providing a digital model of the teeth and related mouth tissue of the patient using data obtained by said scanning;
- computing the actual effect of each of the plurality of appliances on repositioning the teeth by performing finite element analysis on said models;
- evaluating the effect against clinical constraints;
- and
- generating, based at least partially on the evaluated effect, a sequence of appliances having cavities and wherein the cavities of successive custom appliances have different geometries selected to receive and progressively reposition the teeth, wherein the sequence of custom appliances is generated prior to the patient wearing any appliance of the sequence.
A computer program product, tangibly stored on a computer-readable medium, comprising instructions operable to cause a computer to:
- provide a digital model of the shape and material of each of a plurality of candidate appliances to be applied to the teeth of the patient, the candidate appliances having cavities shaped to receive and reposition teeth;
- provide a digital model of the teeth and related mouth tissue of the patient using data obtained by scanning the patient's teeth;
- compute the actual effect of each of the plurality of candidate appliances on repositioning the teeth by performing finite element analysis on said models;
- evaluate the effect against clinical constraints;
- and
- generate, based at least partially on the evaluated effect, a sequence of appliances having geometries selected to progressively reposition the teeth, wherein the appliances comprise polymeric shells having cavities and wherein the cavities of successive shells have different geometries shaped to receive and resiliently reposition teeth from one arrangement to a successive arrangement, wherein the sequence of custom appliances is generated prior to the patient wearing any appliance of the sequence.
A system for segmenting an orthodontic treatment path into clinically appropriate substeps for repositioning the teeth of a patient, comprising:
- means for scanning a patient's teeth or a physical model thereof
- means for providing a digital model of the shape and material of each of a plurality of candidate appliances to be applied to the patient, the candidate appliances having cavities shaped to receive and reposition teeth;
- means for providing a digital model of the teeth and related mouth tissue of the patient to use data obtained by said scanning means;
- means for computing the actual effect of the candidate appliances on repositioning the teeth by performing finite element analysis on said models;
- means for evaluating the effect against clinical constraints;
- and
- means for generating, based at least partially on the evaluated effect, a sequence of appliances having geometries selected to progressively reposition the teeth, wherein the appliances comprise polymeric shells having cavities and wherein the cavities of successive shells have different geometries shaped to receive and resiliently reposition teeth from one arrangement to a successive arrangement, wherein the sequence of appliances is generated prior to the patient wearing any appliance of the sequence.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.