METHOD OF CREATING AN ACCURATE BONE AND SOFT-TISSUE DIGITAL DENTAL MODEL

• US 20110129792A1
• Filed: 04/13/2009
• Published: 06/02/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Biomet 3i LLC (Zimvie Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Biomet 3i LLC (Zimvie Incorporated)
• Inventors: Suttin, Zachary B., Berckmans, Bruce III
• Granted Patent: US 8,651,858 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 433/72
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 34/30 Surgical robots
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/032 Transmission computed tomography [CT]
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/512 Intraoral means
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 1/084 of implanting tools
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/08 Artificial teeth; Making same kilns for artificial teeth F27B
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/34 Making or working of models, e.g. preliminary castings, trial dentures; Dowel pins [4]
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/00 Means to be fixed to the jaw-bone for consolidating natural teeth or for fixing dental prostheses thereon; Dental implants; Implanting tools fastening of peg-teeth in the mouth A61C13/30
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/0001 Impression means for implants, e.g. impression coping
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/005 Connecting devices for joining an upper structure with an implant member, e.g. spacers
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/0089 Implanting tools or instruments
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 9/0006 Impression trays
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 9/0053 Optical means or methods, e.g. scanning the teeth by a laser or light beam
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/50 for simulation or modelling of medical disorders

Abstract

A method of creating a 3-D anatomic digital model for determining a desired location for placing at least one dental implant in a patient'"'"'s mouth. The method comprises the act of obtaining a first dataset associated with hard tissue of the patient'"'"'s mouth. The method further comprises the act of obtaining a second dataset associated with soft tissue of the patient'"'"'s mouth. The method further comprises the act of combining the first dataset and the second dataset to create a detailed structure of hard tissue and soft tissue having variable dimensions over the hard tissue.

Claims

1. A method of creating a 3-D anatomic digital model for determining a desired location for placing at least one dental implant in a patient'"'"'s mouth, the method comprising the acts of:

obtaining a first dataset associated with hard tissue of the patient'"'"'s mouth;

obtaining a second dataset associated with soft tissue of the patient'"'"'s mouth; and

combining the first dataset and the second dataset to create a detailed structure of hard tissue and soft tissue having variable dimensions over the hard tissue.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of obtaining the first dataset includes scanning the inside of the patient'"'"'s mouth.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the act of scanning the patient'"'"'s mouth includes using a computed tomography scanner.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of obtaining a second dataset includes scanning the inside of the patient'"'"'s mouth with an intra-oral scanner.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the act of obtaining a second dataset includes taking an impression of the inside of the patient'"'"'s mouth.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising scanning the impression to achieve the second dataset.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the hard tissue includes the patient'"'"'s jawbone, bone tissue, one or more teeth, physical markers, or a combination thereof.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the act of combining the first dataset with the second dataset further includes:

removing data common to the first dataset and the second dataset to form a merged dataset; and

adding data associated with soft tissue to the region between the merged dataset and the jawbone.

9. A method for developing a surgical guide for guiding the insertion of at least one dental implant into a desired location in a patient'"'"'s mouth, the method comprising the acts of:

obtaining a first dataset associated with hard tissue of the patient'"'"'s mouth and a second dataset associated with soft tissue of the patient'"'"'s mouth;

forming a 3-D anatomic digital model including the first dataset and the second dataset;

creating a surgical plan defined by the 3-D anatomic digital model, the surgical plan including virtual implant positions;

scanning a cast model of the patient'"'"'s mouth to obtain a third dataset;

combining the third dataset with the 3-D anatomic digital model;

placing at least one implant analog in the cast material in a location replicating the location of the at least one virtual implant in accord with the surgical plan;

attaching at least one implant-analog mount and at least one master tube into the cast model in accordance with the surgical plan to form a master cast;

pouring a flowable material over the master cast and around the at least one master tube;

allowing the flowable material to harden, the hardened material forming the surgical guide; and

removing the at least one implant-analog mount and the surgical guide from the master cast.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the act of creating the surgical plan includes using a computed tomography scanner to obtain the data associated with the hard tissue.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the act of creating the surgical plan includes using an intra-oral scanner to obtain the data associated with the soft tissue.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein the act of creating the surgical plan includes scanning an impression of the patient'"'"'s mouth to obtain the data associated with the soft tissue.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising forming the cast model by pouring a cast material into the impression.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the flowable material is a polymeric material, and the master tube is made from a metal, the master tube being embedded in the polymeric material.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein the desired location includes both a position and an orientation of the dental implant.

16. A method of developing a surgical guide for guiding the insertion of at least one dental implant into a desired location in a patient'"'"'s mouth, the method comprising the acts of:

scanning the inside of the patient'"'"'s mouth to obtain a first dataset associated with bone tissue, teeth, or a combination thereof;

taking an impression of the patient'"'"'s mouth;

scanning the impression to obtain a second dataset associated with a gingival surface;

merging the first dataset with the second dataset to form a 3-D anatomic digital model having gingival thickness data;

forming a cast model from the impression;

creating a surgical plan having virtual implants via the 3-D anatomic digital model, the virtual implants having location information associated therewith;

scanning the cast model to obtain a third dataset;

using a robot, placing at least one implant analog in the cast model at a position dictated by the virtual implant location information.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the act of scanning the inside of the patient'"'"'s mouth to obtain a first dataset includes using a computed tomography scanner to obtain the data associated with hard tissue.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the flowable material is a polymeric material and the master tube is made from a metal, the master tube being embedded in the polymeric material.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the virtual implant location information includes information, wherein the size information dictates the size of the implant analog.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the virtual implant location information includes orientation information, wherein the orientation information dictates the orientation of the implant analog

21. The method of claim 16, further comprising, prior to scanning the cast model to obtain a third dataset, mounting the cast model onto a base structure to establish a coordinate system.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising, prior to placing at least one implant analog, extracting coordinates of the desired location of the dental implant relative to the cast model.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the act of placing at least one implant analog is performed by a robot manipulator.

24. A method of developing a 3-D model of the patient'"'"'s mouth, the method comprising the acts of:

scanning the inside of the patient'"'"'s mouth to obtain a first dataset including data associated with the jawbone, bone tissue, teeth, or combinations thereof;

scanning the inside of the patient'"'"'s mouth or an impression of the patient'"'"'s mouth to obtain a second dataset including data associated with the gingival surface;

merging the first dataset with the second dataset to form a combined dataset;

removing overlapping data from the combined dataset to form a modified dataset; and

adding soft tissue data associated with the region between the gingival surface and the jawbone to the combined dataset.

25. A method of placing a dental implant and prosthesis in a patient'"'"'s mouth, the method comprising the acts of:

developing a 3-D anatomic digital model based on hard tissue data obtained from a computed tomography scan of the patient'"'"'s mouth and soft tissue data obtained from an intra-oral scan or a dental impression of the patient'"'"'s mouth;

developing a cast model of the patient'"'"'s mouth;

scanning the cast model to obtain cast data;

merging the 3-D anatomic digital model with the cast data to obtain merged data;

developing a master cast by installing a dental implant analog to replicate a desired location of the dental implant into the cast model using the merged data;

developing on the master cast a surgical guide to be used in the placement of the dental implant in the patient'"'"'s mouth, the surgical guide including at least one opening generally adjacent to the dental implant analog;

placing the surgical guide in the patient'"'"'s mouth;

installing the dental implant through the at least one opening in the surgical guide;

after installing the dental implant, removing the surgical guide from the patient'"'"'s mouth; and

attaching a dental prosthesis to the dental implant.