COMPUTER-AIDED IMPLANTING OF ORTHODONTIC ANCHORAGE DEVICES USING SURGICAL GUIDES

• US 20080026338A1
• Filed: 07/28/2006
• Published: 01/31/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 07/28/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Solventum Intellectual Properties Company (Solventum Corp.)
• Original Assignee: 3M Innovative Properties Company (3M Company)
• Inventors: Cinader, David K.
• Granted Patent: US 7,653,455 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 433/29
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 1/084 of implanting tools
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/002 Orthodontic computer assisted systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/0096 Implants for use in orthodontic treatment
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/00 Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/02 for controlling or regulating additive manufacturing processes
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing

Abstract

A system for implanting a temporary anchorage device in a jaw bone of a patient makes use of a digital representation of at least a portion of the patient'"'"'s dental arch, including teeth and corresponding roots, in order to select a temporary anchorage device (TAD) implant site that does not interfere with a tooth root. A surgical guide relates the information from the digital representation to an actual location in the patient'"'"'s jaw bone. The surgical guide is formed to fit over at least a portion of the occlusal, buccal, labial, and/or lingual surfaces of the dental arch proximate to the selected TAD implant site and includes a physical and/or visual marker that indicates the selected TAD implant site.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a computing device;

modeling software executing on the computing device, wherein the modeling software comprises;

a rendering engine that renders a digital representation of at least a portion of a dental arch within a user-interactive computer environment; and

a software module that provides a user interface to manipulate a digital representation of a temporary anchorage device relative to the digital representation of the dental arch to specify a virtual implant site for the temporary anchorage device; and

a prototyping instrument in communication with the computing device and configured to fabricate an orthodontic surgical guide in accordance with the specified virtual implant site.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the prototyping instrument fabricates the surgical guide to include:

a body having an alignment surface formed to fit over at least one of a buccal, labial, lingual or occlusal surface of the portion of the dental arch; and

a marker on the body and positioned to align with an actual implant site for the temporary anchorage device corresponding to the virtual implant site when the body of the surgical guide is positioned over the surface of the portion of the dental arch.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the prototyping instrument fabricates the marker of the surgical guide to orient the temporary anchorage instrument within the implant site.

4. The system of claim 2, wherein the marker is an aperture defined by the body.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the prototyping instrument fabricates the aperture to comprise an interior surface angled to receive and orient at least one of the temporary anchorage device and a surgical bur with respect to a jaw bone of a patient.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the prototyping instrument fabricates the surgical guide to include a hollow steel sleeve disposed within the aperture.

7. The system of claim 2, wherein the marker is a visual indicium disposed on the body.

8. The system of claim 2, wherein the marker is an orthodontic appliance embedded in the body.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the prototyping instrument is a rapid prototyping instrument.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the rapid prototyping instrument is one of:

a stereolithography instrument, a selective laser sintering instrument, and a solid object printing instrument.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the prototyping instrument is an instrument comprising:

an arm controlled by the computing device, wherein the arm is adapted to position the marker on a physical model of the portion of the dental arch.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the prototyping instrument fabricates the surgical guide at least in part of at least one of:

a polyamide nylon, a glass-filled nylon, a thermoplastic, a thermosetting resin, a polycarbonate, metal, a resin reinforced with ceramic, and a resin reinforced with glass.

13. The system of claim 2, wherein the prototyping instrument fabricates the surgical guide to comprise a plurality of visual indicia disposed on the body, wherein each marker indicates a separate implant site for a separate temporary anchorage device.

14. An orthodontic surgical guide comprising:

a body comprising an alignment surface formed to fit over at least one of a buccal, labial, lingual or occlusal surface of at least a portion of a dental arch of a patient; and

a marker disposed on the body for indicating a temporary anchorage device implant site, wherein the marker is positioned on the body by a computer controlled device based on a digital representation of the portion of the dental arch of the patient.

15. The orthodontic surgical guide of claim 14, wherein the marker is an aperture defined by the body.

16. The orthodontic surgical guide of claim 15, wherein the aperture is configured to receive and orient at least one of the temporary anchorage device and a surgical bur.

17. The orthodontic surgical guide of claim 14, wherein the marker is a visual indicium disposed on the body.

18. The orthodontic surgical guide of claim 14, wherein the marker is an orthodontic appliance embedded in the body.

19. The orthodontic surgical guide of claim 18, wherein the orthodontic appliance is at least one of:

a temporary anchorage device and a steel sleeve.

20. A method of constructing an orthodontic surgical guide for implanting a temporary anchorage device, the method comprising:

generating, within a three-dimensional (3D) modeling environment, a digital representation of a tooth structure of a patient, wherein the tooth structure includes at least one root location;

receiving input specifying a temporary anchorage device (TAD) implant site within the 3D modeling environment relative to the tooth structure;

communicating data relating to the tooth structure of the patient and the specified temporary anchorage device implant site to a prototyping instrument; and

controlling the prototyping instrument to fabtricate an orthodontic surgical guide including a marker corresponding to the temporary anchorage device implant site.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein generating the digital representation of the tooth structure of the patient comprises:

imaging the tooth structure to produce a two-dimensional (2D) image of the teeth including the root location;

scanning at least a portion of the tooth structure to produce three-dimensional (3D) data of the teeth; and

registering the 2D image and 3D data to align the root location with the tooth structure within the 3D environment to generate a composite digital representation of the tooth structure and the root location.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the 2D image is a radiological image.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein scanning at least a portion of the tooth structure comprises scanning at least one of a physical casting and a physical impression of the tooth structure of the patient.

24. The method of claim 21, wherein scanning at least a portion of the tooth structure comprises scanning the tooth structure of the patient with an intra-oral scanner.

25. The method of claim 21, and further comprising placing at least one registration marker on the tooth structure of the patient prior to imaging the tooth structure and prior to scanning the tooth structure,

wherein registering the 2D image and the 3D data comprises defining a second registration marker in the 3D image,

wherein superimposing the 2D and 3D images comprises aligning the first and second registration markers.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein generating the digital representation of the tooth structure comprises:

utilizing a CT scanner to generate three-dimensional (3D) data relating to the tooth structure; and

processing the 3D data to produce the digital representation of the tooth structure able to be manipulated within the 3D modeling environment.

27. The method of claim 20, wherein the prototyping instrument is a rapid prototyping instrument.

28. The method of claim 20, wherein the prototyping instrument is adapted to construct a guide comprising:

a body formed to fit over at least one of a buccal, labial, lingual or occlusal surface of at least a portion of the tooth structure of the patient.

29. The method of claim 20, wherein the marker is an aperture defined by the body and configured to receive at least one of the temporary anchorage device and a surgical bur.

30. The method of claim 20, wherein the marker is a visual indicium disposed on the body.

31. The method of claim 20, wherein the marker is an orthodontic appliance embedded in the body.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the orthodontic appliance is at least one of:

the temporary anchorage device and a steel sleeve.

33. The method of claim 20, and further comprising:

forming a physical model of the tooth structure of the patient;

positioning a mold material around the tooth structure, wherein the prototyping instrument forms an aperture in the mold material at a location corresponding to the temporary anchorage device implant site.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the prototyping instrument is a robotic arm.

35. The method of claim 20, wherein generating the digital representation of the tooth structure of the patient comprises:

generating a first set of three-dimensional (3D) data relating to the tooth structure of the patient, including a root location;

generating a second set of 3D data relating to the tooth structure;

registering the first and second sets of 3D data; and

processing the registered first and second sets of 3D data to produce the digital representation of the tooth structure able to be manipulated within the 3D modeling environment.

36. The method of claim 35, wherein registering the first and second sets of 3D data comprises:

defining a fiducial marker on the tooth structure prior to generating the first and second sets of 3D data; and

aligning the fiducial markers on the first and second sets of 3D data.

37. A method comprising:

generating a digital model of a tooth structure of a patient;

selecting a virtual implant site for an orthodontic anchorage device within the digital model of the tooth structure; and

fabricating an orthodontic surgical guide based on data from the digital model and virtual implant site, wherein the surgical guide includes a marker positioned to align with an actual implant site for the orthodontic anchorage device corresponding to the virtual implant site when the surgical guide is positioned over the tooth structure of the patient.

38. The method of claim 37, wherein fabricating the orthodontic surgical guide comprises:

transmitting the digital model of the tooth structure and the virtual implant site to a manufacturing facility.

39. The method of claim 37, wherein the marker is an aperture defined by the surgical guide and configured to receive at least one of the temporary anchorage device and a surgical bur.

40. The method of claim 37, wherein the marker is a visual indicium disposed on the surgical guide.

41. The method of claim 37, wherein the marker is an orthodontic appliance embedded in the surgical guide.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein the orthodontic appliance is at least one of:

the temporary anchorage device and a steel sleeve.