Computer-implemented method for digitally designing a dental restoration and a computer-readable medium

Computer-implemented method for digitally designing a dental restoration for a rest tooth using a tooth template, wherein the rest tooth is described by scanned data of the rest tooth or a dental model of the rest tooth, the tooth template is described by data of the tooth template and axis data describes a longitudinal axis of the tooth template or a tooth axis that the rest tooth would have as a healthy tooth, the method comprising the steps of:

• generating, via a processor, for display on a computer display, data sets for the rest tooth and tooth template depicted as objects;
• automatically deforming, via the processor, the tooth template towards the rest tooth by Laplacian surface deformation such that a prepared part of the rest tooth, within a preparation margin, is covered by a portion of the tooth template;
• and
• wherein the data of the tooth template comprises a polygonal mesh describing the surface of the tooth template and wherein the Laplacian surface deformation further comprise using a handle that lies inside a polygon of the polygonal mesh of the tooth template;
• a) wherein the Laplacian surface deformation comprises, for a first surface region of the rest tooth, selecting a target located at the preparation margin of the rest tooth, and:
• based on the axis data, automatically generating a line going through a point on the surface of the rest tooth or the tooth template, wherein the line orthogonally intersects the longitudinal axis of the tooth template or the tooth;
• when the line intersects with the tooth template and with the surface of the rest tooth, automatically choosing the intersection point of the line with the tooth template as a handle and the intersection point with the surface of the rest tooth as a target;
• and
• automatically deforming the tooth template;
• and
• b) wherein the Laplacian surface deformation comprises for a second surface region of the rest tooth different from the first surface region:
• based on the axis data, automatically generating another line going through another point on the surface of the rest tooth or the tooth template, wherein said another line is directed along a normal direction to a tangent plane to the surface at said another point;
• when said another line intersects with the tooth template and with the surface of the rest tooth, automatically choosing the intersection point of said another line with the tooth template as the handle and the intersection point with the surface of the rest tooth as a target;
• and
• automatically deforming the tooth template.