Method and system for designing and producing dental prostheses and appliances

A service center system comprising computer hardware, the hardware programmed to:

• receive three dimensional data indicative of a patient's oral cavity;
• process the three dimensional data of the patient's oral cavity so as to identify a prosthesis preparation and external surface shape geometry of a prosthesis coupling portion of the preparation;
• generate prosthesis data comprising three dimensional shape data of a preparation coupling portion of the prosthesis, wherein the preparation coupling portion is configured for coupling the prosthesis and the preparation, the prosthesis data further comprising three dimensional shape data of an external surface of the prosthesis configured to match adjacent teeth in the patient's oral cavity;
• and
• transmit prosthesis data for shared manufacture of the prosthesis between a service center and dental lab such that the coupling portion of the prosthesis and coupling portion of the preparation have predetermined criteria comprising a fitting tolerance in a predetermined range of dimensional accuracy, wherein the prosthesis data comprises a surface feature located on the coupling portion of the prosthesis and having a geometry configured to maintain proper spatial alignment between the coupling portion of the prosthesis and the external surface of the prosthesis.

A service center system comprising computer hardware, the hardware comprising computer readable instructions that when executed cause the hardware to:

• receive three dimensional data indicative of a patient's oral cavity;
• process the three dimensional data of the patient's oral cavity so as to identify a prosthesis preparation, an external surface shape geometry of a coping coupling portion of the preparation, and one or more finish lines of the preparation;
• generate prosthesis data comprising three dimensional shape data of a prosthesis coping and a prosthesis having an external surface configured to match adjacent teeth in the patient's oral cavity;
• and
• transmit prosthesis data for shared manufacture of the prosthesis or portion thereof between a service center and a dental lab such that the coping and the preparation have a predetermined criteria comprising a fitting tolerance in a predetermined range of dimensional accuracy, wherein the prosthesis data comprises a surface feature located on the coping and having a geometry configured to maintain proper spatial alignment between the coping and the external surface of the prosthesis.