SYSTEM FOR DETERMINING FINAL POSITION OF TEETH

• US 20110112804A1
• Filed: 11/11/2010
• Published: 05/12/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 11/30/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Beers, Andrew C., Chishti, Muhammad Ziaullah Khan
• Granted Patent: US 8,651,859 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/0004 Computer-assisted sizing or machining of dental prostheses
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/00 Orthodontics, i.e. obtaining or maintaining the desired position of teeth, e.g. by straightening, evening, regulating, separating, or by correcting malocclusions
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/002 Orthodontic computer assisted systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/08 Mouthpiece-type retainers or positioners, e.g. for both the lower and upper arch arch-shaped medicament applicators for teeth or gums A61C19/063; mouthguards for protecting the teeth of sportsmen A63B71/085
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 9/0046 Data acquisition means or methods
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 50/00 Data acquisition or data processing for additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: B33Y 80/00 Products made by additive manufacturing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/50 for simulation or modelling of medical disorders

Abstract

An apparatus and method define a fit of a set of upper and lower teeth of a patient by generating a computer representation of the teeth; and determining an occlusion from the computer representation of the teeth using one or more keys.

Claims

1. A computer program for use in a system for defining a fit between a set of upper and lower teeth of a patient and planning orthodontic treatment, the computer program residing on a computer-readable storage medium and comprising instructions operable to cause a programmable processor to:

determine an occlusion from a computer model of a set of upper and lower teeth of a patient'"'"'s teeth;

model the set of teeth in a plurality of different arrangements representing successive repositioning of the patient'"'"'s teeth from a first arrangement toward a desired arrangement; and

model a patient-removable appliance for each of a plurality of the arrangements, the patient-removable appliances having teeth-receiving cavities, the cavities of successive appliances having different geometries shaped to receive and resiliently reposition the teeth from one arrangement toward a successive arrangement.