Method of designing and fabricating patient-specific restorations from intra-oral scanning of a digital impression

• US 8,867,800 B2
• Filed: 05/21/2010
• Issued: 10/21/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 05/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: James R Glidewell Dental Ceramics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: James R Glidewell Dental Ceramics Incorporated
• Inventors: Bullis, Grant, Nguyen, Tao, Minzenmayer, Greg
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Jayesh A
• Application Number:
  US12/800,784
• Publication Number:
  US 20100303316A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,614 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 382/128
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 5/055 involving electronic [EMR] or nuclear [NMR] magnetic resonance, e.g. magnetic resonance imaging
• CPC Class Codes: A61B 6/51 for dentistry
• 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 9/004 Means or methods for taking digitized impressions
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2207/30004 Biomedical image processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 7/0012 Biomedical image inspection
• CPC Class Codes: G06V 2201/031 of internal organs
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 20/40 relating to mechanical, radiation or invasive therapies, e.g. surgery, laser therapy, dialysis or acupuncture

Abstract

Taking a digital implant or abutment level digital impression by means of intra-oral, computed tomography or other imaging method provides the restorative doctor and laboratory accurate and effective data for determining the implant position, angulation and locking feature orientation without a physical impression. Such data is correlated with a digital library to produce an output which enables design and fabrication of an accurate restorative device such as a prosthetic tooth or crown. In this way the time-consuming, costly and error prone mechanical replication of the relevant dental anatomy is obviated.

Claims

1. A method for designing and fabricating a dental prosthetic restoration based upon the position and orientation of a dental implant previously placed in a patient, without requiring a physical impression of the patient'"'"'s oral cavity, the method comprising the steps of:

a) installing a digital impression coping which properly engages said dental implant;

b) scanning an image of the patient'"'"'s dental anatomy including at least said digital impression coping using an intra-oral imaging method;

c) transmitting said scanned image to a fabricator of restorative dental prosthetics;

d) using said scanned image to derive a corresponding prosthetic restoration and its relevant position and orientation characteristics for the patient and installed implant including the step of correlating said scanned image to a library of digital impression coping data to derive angular and vertical position data and locking orientation information of said installed implant; and

e) generating said corresponding prosthetic restoration for installation in said patient.

2. The method recited in claim 1 wherein the library of data is representative of a plurality of digital impression copings corresponding respectively to implants of various implant manufacturers.

3. The method recited in claim 1 wherein step b) comprises the step of producing an oral cavity image which includes at least adjacent and opposing teeth of said patient in relation to said dental implant.

4. A method for providing a properly configured dental prosthetic restoration for mating with an implant abutment attached to an implant installed in the patient without requiring a physical impression of a patient'"'"'s oral cavity, the method comprising the steps of:

a) mating a digital impression coping with said abutment;

b) scanning an image of said coping and adjacent dental anatomy using an intra-oral imaging method; and

c) using said scanned image to configure a restoration to mate with said abutment including the step of correlating said scanned image to a library of digital impression coping data to derive angular and vertical position data and locking orientation of said implant.

5. The method recited in claim 4 wherein the library of data is representative of a plurality of digital impression copings corresponding to implant abutments of a plurality of different manufacturers.

6. The method recited in claim 4 wherein step b) comprises the step of producing an oral cavity image which includes at least adjacent and opposing teeth of said patient in relation to said implant.

7. A method for designing a dental prosthetic restoration based upon an implant in a patient without requiring a physical impression of the patient'"'"'s oral cavity, the method comprising the steps of:

affixing a digital impression coping with said implant in the patient;

scanning said digital impression coping in the patient; and

correlating said scanning of said digital impression coping to a library of data representative of a plurality of digital impression copings to derive angular position data, vertical position data, and locking orientation information of said implant.