Tooth shade analyzer system and methods
First Claim
1. A method for determining a patient'"'"'s tooth shade, which comprises:
- generating an electronic image of a patient'"'"'s tooth wherein the image includes color information representative of the patient'"'"'s tooth shade;
electronically storing color information representative of a plurality of tooth shades; and
comparing the color information of the image with the stored tooth shade color information to identify one or more tooth shades having a combined color that corresponds to the patient'"'"'s tooth shade.
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method for determining a patient'"'"'s tooth shade, by generating an electronic image of a patient'"'"'s tooth wherein the image includes color information representative of the patient'"'"'s tooth shade; electronically storing color information representative of a plurality of tooth shades; and comparing the color information of the image with the stored tooth shade color information to identify one or more tooth shades having a combined color that corresponds to the patient'"'"'s tooth shade. Another method of the invention includes the steps of electronically imaging a patient'"'"'s tooth to obtain an image that includes color information representative of the patient'"'"'s tooth shade; electronically displaying the color information of the image; selecting one or more pixels of the displayed image, which pixels correspond to differential spatial locations of the patient'"'"'s tooth, that provide color information; and electronically comparing the color information from the selected pixels with the stored tooth shade color information to determine the color of that portion of the patient'"'"'s tooth. A device and handpiece for carrying out the method and the reconstructed tooth that is obtained are additional aspects of the invention.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for determining a patient'"'"'s tooth shade, which comprises:
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generating an electronic image of a patient'"'"'s tooth wherein the image includes color information representative of the patient'"'"'s tooth shade;
electronically storing color information representative of a plurality of tooth shades; and
comparing the color information of the image with the stored tooth shade color information to identify one or more tooth shades having a combined color that corresponds to the patient'"'"'s tooth shade. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method for determining a patient'"'"'s tooth shade, which comprises:
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electronically imaging a patient'"'"'s tooth to obtain an image that includes color information representative of the patient'"'"'s tooth shade;
electronically displaying the color information of the image;
selecting one or more pixels of the displayed image, which pixels correspond to differential spatial locations of the patient'"'"'s tooth, that provide color information; and
electronically comparing the color information from the selected pixels with the stored tooth shade color information to determine the color of that portion of the patient'"'"'s tooth. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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- 16. A reconstructed tooth comprising a plurality of porcelain coatings that result in a reconstructed tooth color that precisely corresponds to that of a patient'"'"'s tooth.
- 21. A tooth color measuring device comprising a handpiece that includes a camera in a housing for surrounding and protecting the camera from external influences, and a light source for illuminating a patient'"'"'s tooth, wherein the camera obtains an electronic image of a patient'"'"'s tooth which image includes color information representative of the patient'"'"'s tooth shade.
Specification