Process and apparatus for preparing a crown portion to be fixed on a tooth
First Claim
1. In a process for preparing a dental crown portion to be secured to a tooth stump in which a model is made of the tooth stump, molding material is applied to the model and has its outer contour formed by removal of material, said molding material being thereafter removed from the model and used as a casting model for the dental crown portion, the steps of:
- scanning with a scanning head for conversion into geometrical data at least part of the contour of the tooth stump;
supplying the geometrical data to a computer memory coupled to the scanning head;
calculating, from the geometrical data, the contour for the casting model, taking into account an allowance for material on the outer surface of the tooth stump and storing said data in the computer memory; and
,guiding, according to the calculated contour for the casting model, a contour tool coupled to the computer memory along the molding material that has been applied to the model of the tooth stump whereby a casting model for a dental crown portion is formed.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and process for use in preparing a crown portion to be affixed on a tooth stump is described. A model of the tooth stump is clamped to remain immobile and scanned with a scanning head attached to a numerically controlled processing machine. Data from the scanning head indicative of the contour of the tooth stump is stored in a computer memory. From this data a contour for a casting model used to make a crown portion is calculated and stored in the computer memory. Molding material, such as wax, is placed on the tooth stump and a contour tool attached to the numerically controlled processing machine processes the molding material to produce the casting model using the calculated data. The casting model may then be used to produce a crown portion which may be further finished with a contour tool coupled to the numerically controlled processing machine using the calculated data from the computer memory.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. In a process for preparing a dental crown portion to be secured to a tooth stump in which a model is made of the tooth stump, molding material is applied to the model and has its outer contour formed by removal of material, said molding material being thereafter removed from the model and used as a casting model for the dental crown portion, the steps of:
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scanning with a scanning head for conversion into geometrical data at least part of the contour of the tooth stump; supplying the geometrical data to a computer memory coupled to the scanning head; calculating, from the geometrical data, the contour for the casting model, taking into account an allowance for material on the outer surface of the tooth stump and storing said data in the computer memory; and
,guiding, according to the calculated contour for the casting model, a contour tool coupled to the computer memory along the molding material that has been applied to the model of the tooth stump whereby a casting model for a dental crown portion is formed. - View Dependent Claims (2)
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3. An apparatus for use in preparing a dental crown portion to be secured to a tooth stump, said apparatus using a numerically controlled processing machine and comprising:
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a clamping device on said processing machine for a model of a group of teeth containing a tooth stump or for a model of a tooth stump; a scanning head on said processing machine for generating position data; a guiding means on said processing machine for guiding the scanning head along said model; a computer memory connected to said scanning head for storing position data generated when the scanning head is guided along the model; and a contour tool on said processing machine controlled by said memory and movable relative to said model. - View Dependent Claims (4)
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5. Apparatus for the preparation on a blank of a copy from an original object comprising:
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a numerically controlled processing machine having a scanner for generating position data of the surface of the original object; an electronic control device having a memory for storing said position data; and a processing tool connected to said electronic control device and guided along a blank in accordance with the stored position data to reproduce the surface of the original object.
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6. A process for producing from molding material on a tooth stump model a casting model for a dental crown, said casting model having a specified minimum thickness over all parts of the tooth stump model comprising:
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fixedly mounting the tooth stump model relative to a numerically controlled processing machine; scanning at least part of the surface of the tooth stump model to acquire data characteristic of the surface contour of the tooth stump model with a scanning head on said processing machine; storing said data in a computer memory coupled to said machine; applying a molding material to the tooth stump model; and moving a contouring device on said processing machine to form a casting model from said molding material using said stored data from said computer memory to control said contouring device. - View Dependent Claims (7)
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8. A process for smoothing the outer surface of a dental crown, said dental crown produced from a casting model in which data characteristic of the surface of the tooth stump on which the dental crown is to be placed has been stored in a computer memory and used to control a contouring device on a numerically controlled processing machine in order to form the casting model from molding material applied to a model of the tooth stump, comprising:
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placing the crown portion on the model of the tooth stump; and milling, with a contouring device on said processing machine, said dental crown, said contouring device being controlled by stored data from said computer memory in order to mill the dental crown according to the measure used to form the casting model, reduced in size a small amount.
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9. An apparatus for use in producing a casting model or a dental crown portion for a tooth stump for which a tooth stump model has been made comprising:
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means for generating data indicative of the contour of the surface of the tooth stump model; computer means coupled to said means for generating data for storing said generated data and for calculating from said stored data the outer contour of a dental crown or a casting model; a contouring device movable relative to said tooth stump model; and means coupled to said contouring device for moving said contouring device relative to the tooth stump model, said means coupled to and cooperating with said computer means so that material placed on said tooth stump model is formed by said contouring device according to said calculated outer contour into a dental crown or casting model. - View Dependent Claims (10)
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Specification