Dental Framework

• US 20090325125A1
• Filed: 08/28/2009
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cagenix Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Cagenix Incorporated
• Inventors: DiAngelo, Denis John, Schulter, Andrew John, Schulter, Carl Walter
• Granted Patent: US 8,308,481 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 433/173
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/0004 Computer-assisted sizing or machining of dental prostheses
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/0001 Impression means for implants, e.g. impression coping
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/0048 Connecting the upper structure to the implant, e.g. bridging bars A61C8/0028 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/006 with polygonal positional means, e.g. hexagonal or octagonal
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/0068 with an additional screw
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/0095 Total denture implant
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 9/004 Means or methods for taking digitized impressions
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture

Abstract

A method of preparing a dental framework or mathematical model thereof comprises creating a replica of a patient'"'"'s mouth or a framework to be inserted into the patient'"'"'s mouth, electronically scanning the replica or framework, electronically determining a surface model of a dental framework and manufacturing the framework.

Claims

1. A method of fabricating a dental framework conforming to the soft tissue of a patient suitable for use in a dental prosthesis having a plurality of fittings interconnected by bridging structures, said fittings having mating surfaces that are configured to engage a corresponding plurality of anchors in said patient'"'"'s jaw bone, and each of said bridging structures having a soft tissue confronting surface, the method comprising the steps of:

creating a digital representation of a soft tissue surface of said patient'"'"'s mouth associated with said jaw bone;

creating a digital model of said dental framework;

positioning said digital model of dental framework and said digital representation of said soft tissue surface in a desired relationship with one another; and

making said dental framework conforming to the soft tissue of said patient in accordance with a toolpath including removing any material from said soft tissue confronting surface of said bridging structure of said framework extending beyond said digital representation of said soft tissue surface.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said soft tissue surface of said patient includes a surface of at least one of a group consisting of soft tissue, gum tissue, other prosthesis and other restoration surface.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said digital representation of said soft tissue surface is obtained by means of scanning a dental surface of at least one of a group consisting an impression of said patient'"'"'s mouth, a stone cast of said patient'"'"'s mouth, a diagnostic wax-up and a wax-up framework.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said material is removed from said bridging structure by exactly following said soft tissue surface contour of said digital representation of said patient'"'"'s mouth.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said digital representation of said soft tissue surface is obtained by taking an impression of said patient'"'"'s mouth, manufacturing a stone cast of said patient'"'"'s mouth from said impression and digitally scanning said stone cast.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein subsequent to manufacturing said stone cast, a diagnostic wax-up is created followed by creation of said digital model of said framework by means of scan data acquired from said stone cast and said diagnostic wax-up.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein said diagnostic wax-up is created from a material containing at least one material selected from a group consisting of wax, acrylic, and polymer material.

8. The method of claim 5 wherein subsequent to manufacturing said stone cast a putty index is created, then said digital model of said framework is created by using scan data acquired from said stone cast and said putty index.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein subsequent to manufacturing said stone cast a wax-up framework is created, then said digital model of said framework is created using scan data acquired from said stone cast and said wax-up framework.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein said wax-up framework is created from at least one material selected from a group consisting of wax, acrylic, and polymer material.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein subsequent to manufacturing said stone cast a wax-up framework is created, then said digital model of said framework is created using scan data acquired from said stone cast and said wax-up framework, said digital model having a general shape essentially identical to that of said wax-up framework scan data.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said wax-up framework is created from a material selected from a group including;

wax, acrylic, and polymer material.

13. The method of claim 5, wherein said stone cast is created by a method comprising the steps of:

attaching a coping to each of said anchors;

forming an impression of said patient'"'"'s mouth in which said copings are embedded;

attaching an analog to each of said copings; and

forming a stone cast from said impression in which said analogs are embedded.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein said digital model of said framework is created by:

creating a digital model of said bridging structure;

creating a digital model of said fittings and

combining said digital model of said bridging structure and said digital model of said fittings.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein said digital model of said framework is created by:

creating a digital model of said fittings;

importing a digital representation of the orientation and position of the mating surfaces of said anchors into a computer program;

aligning said digital model of said fittings with said digital representation of the orientation and position of the mating surfaces of said anchors;

creating a bridging structure spanning between said fittings and

combining said digital model of said bridging structure and said digital model of said fittings.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein said positioning said digital model of dental framework and said digital representation of said soft tissue surface in a desired relationship with one another is performed by:

aligning said digital model of said framework with said digital representation said soft tissue surface at least a portion of at least one said bridging structure extending through said digital representation of said soft tissue surface.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said soft tissue confronting surface of at least one said bridging structures is straight cut following a profile conforming to the contour of the confronting soft tissue beneath said bridging structure.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein said profile follows a path complimentary to the soft tissue surface constrained in one direction by the facial side of said bridging structure and constrained in another direction by the lingual side of said bridging structure.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein said profile follows a path complimentary to said soft tissue surface beneath the facial surface edge of said soft tissue confronting surface of said bridging structure.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein said profile follows a path complimentary to said soft tissue surface beneath the lingual surface edge of said soft tissue confronting surface of said bridging structure.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein said profile follows a path complimentary to the contour of the soft tissue of a denture user beneath the lateral midpoint of the surface of said bridging structure confronting said soft tissue surface.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein the edges of said soft tissue confronting surface are beveled.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein the edges of said soft tissue confronting surface are rounded.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein said soft tissue confronting surface possess at least one cross-sectional profile selected from the group consisting of elliptical, rounded, multifaceted, chamfered and nonlinear freeform.

25. A dental framework adapted to support a dental prosthesis connectible to a plurality of anchors in a jawbone of a patient'"'"'s mouth, said framework comprising:

a plurality of fittings adapted to mate to said anchors, respectively, and

bridging structures connecting said fittings, having at least a portion of the surface of at least one said bridging structure confronting the soft tissue of a user of said denture being formed by computer controlled machining so as to be complementary to the contours of said soft tissue confronting said bridging structures.

26. The framework of claim 25 wherein the edges of said surfaces are beveled.

27. The framework of claim 25 wherein the edges of said surfaces are rounded.

28. The framework of claim 25 wherein said surfaces possess at least one cross-sectional profile selected from the group consisting of elliptical, rounded, multifaceted, chamfered and nonlinear freeform.

29. A dental framework adapted to support a dental prosthesis connectable to anchors in the jaw of a patient'"'"'s mouth, said framework comprising:

a plurality of fittings adapted for individual connection to said anchors; and

bridging structures connecting said fittings in series, at least one of said bridging structures having at least a portion of the surface confronting the soft tissue of said jaw which is a straight cut surface complimentary to the contour of the confronted soft tissue of said patient.

30. The framework of claim 29 wherein at least a portion of the soft tissue confronting surface of at least one of said bridging structures is a straight cut surface complimentary to the contour of said soft tissue surface beneath the facial surface edge of said soft tissue confronting surface of said bridging structure.

31. The framework of claim 29 wherein at least a portion of the soft tissue confronting surface of at least one of said bridging structures is a straight cut surface complimentary to the contour of said soft tissue surface beneath the lingual surface edge of said soft tissue confronting surface of said bridging structure.

32. The framework of claim 29 wherein at least a portion of the soft tissue confronting surface of at least one of said bridging structures being a straight cut surface complimentary to the contour of said soft tissue of said patient beneath the lateral midpoint of said confronting surface of said bridging structures.

33. The framework of claim 29 wherein at least a portion of the soft tissue confronting surface of at least one of said bridging structures is a straight cut surface complimentary to the contour of soft tissue of a denture user and has laterally opposite edges possessing at least one cross-sectional profile selected from the group consisting of elliptical, rounded, multifaceted, chamfered, and nonplanar freeform.

34. A method of creating a dental framework having a plurality of mating surfaces configured to engage a corresponding plurality of anchors in the patient'"'"'s jaw bone, the method comprising the steps of:

attaching a coping to each of said anchors;

forming an impression of said patient'"'"'s mouth in which said copings are embedded;

attaching an analog to each of said copings;

forming a stone cast from said impression in which said analogs are embedded;

attaching a fitting to each of said analog;

connecting said fittings with a bridging structure of suitable materials to form a wax-up framework, said wax-up framework representing a physical model of the finished framework;

digitally scanning said wax-up framework coupled to said stone cast with said fittings attached said analogs to generate a wax-up framework and stone cast point cloud dataset

digitally scanning said wax-up framework to generate a wax-up framework point cloud dataset;

attaching alignment posts having surface extensions to each of said analogs embedded in said stone cast;

digitally scanning said surface extensions and said stone cast to generate a alignment post and stone cast point cloud dataset;

aligning said point cloud datasets using features common to said point cloud datasets;

creating a digital surface model of said wax-up framework;

deriving the relative positions and orientations of said mating surfaces from said point cloud datasets;

combining said surface model of said wax-up framework and said mating surfaces to generate a model of the framework;

creating a tool path based on said model for manufacture of said framework; and

manufacturing said framework in accordance with said toolpath.

35. The method of claim 34, wherein said wax-up framework is created from at least one material selected from a group including wax, acrylic, and polymer material.

36. The method of claim 34, wherein said toolpath is a computer instruction and said dental framework is manufactured by computer controlled machinery in accordance with said instruction.

37. The method of claim 34, wherein at least one feature common to said point cloud datasets is selected from a group including, window pane fixtures, alignment posts, and calibration fixtures.

38. The method of claim 34, wherein the features common to said point cloud datasets include datums created from said point cloud datasets.

39. A method of creating a dental framework having a plurality of mating surfaces configured to engage mating surfaces of a corresponding plurality of anchors in a jaw bone of a patient from a stone cast of the patient'"'"'s mouth having analogs embedded therein representing the exact positions and orientations of the anchor mating surfaces and a wax-up framework, the method comprising the steps of:

creating a digital representation of the soft tissue contours associated with said jaw bone including the position and orientation of each said anchor mating surface from said stone cast of said patient in relation to each said anchor mating surface and said soft tissue surface;

creating a digital representation of the surface of said framework based upon said wax-up framework;

creating a digital representation of the surface of said wax-up framework coupled with said stone cast;

aligning said digital representations using features common to said digital representations;

aligning a digital parameterized fitting to said digital representation of the position and orientation of each anchor mating surface;

combining said digital parameterized fitting with said digital representation of said wax-up framework to form a final digital representation of said framework;

creating a tool path based on said final digital representation of said framework for manufacture of said framework; and

manufacturing said framework in accordance with said toolpath.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein said wax-up framework is created from a material selected from a group including;

wax, acrylic, and polymer material.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein said digital representation of said soft tissue surface and said anchor mating surfaces are created from said stone cast by a method comprising the steps of:

attaching alignment posts having surface extensions to each of said analogs and

digitally scanning said surface extensions and said stone cast to create said digital representation in the form of a point cloud dataset.

42. The method of claim 39, wherein creation of said digital representation of said framework includes the steps of:

attaching a fitting to each of the plurality of analogs;

forming a wax-up framework in which said fittings are coupled together with a bridging structure to hold them in their relative positions;

removing said wax-up framework from said analogs; and

digitally scanning said wax-up framework to create said digital representation in the form of a point cloud dataset.

43. The method of claim 39, wherein said digital representation of said framework is created by digitally scanning said wax-up framework to create said digital representation in the form of a point cloud dataset.

44. The method of claim 39, wherein the creation of said digital representation of the surface of said framework coupled with said stone cast includes the steps of:

coupling said wax-up framework with said stone cast and

digitally scanning said framework coupled to said stone cast to create said digital representation in the form of a point cloud dataset.