Surface mapping and generating devices and methods for surface mapping and surface generation

• US 8,922,635 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2011
• Issued: 12/30/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Institut Straumann AG (Straumann Holding AG)
• Original Assignee: Institut Straumann AG (Straumann Holding AG)
• Inventors: Weber, Gerhard, Mehl, Albert, Holzner, Stephan, Gloger, Wolfram
• Primary Examiner(s): Rao, Andy
• Application Number:
  US13/177,718
• Publication Number:
  US 20110262885A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,272 Days
• Field of Search: 348/66, 348/77
• US Class Current: 348/77
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/0004 Computer-assisted sizing or machining of dental prostheses
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/12 Tools for fastening artificial teeth; Holders, clamps, or stands for artificial teeth A61C8/0089 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 9/004 Means or methods for taking digitized impressions
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 9/0053 Optical means or methods, e.g. scanning the teeth by a laser or light beam
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 9/0093 Workpiece support
• CPC Class Codes: G01B 11/2518 Projection by scanning of the object

Abstract

A surface mapping and generating device which has devices for the process and/or cost optimization, in particular raw material recovery devices, an automatic control of the intensity of a used laser light, devices for carrying out a calibrating procedure by evaluating overlap errors at matching points, devices for archiving especially three-dimensional data of the jaw and/or for modeling the bite position of the upper and the lower jaws, devices for the optimized preparation of at least one dental stump for the production and placement of a dental prosthesis thereon and/or devices for taking into consideration the bite position of the upper and lower jaws. It can be provided that the devices for the process and/or cost optimization are designed to ensure that two half frames showing different positions or views are evaluated, whereby preferably a pulsed laser for exposure purposes is included and/or that an image recording device, in particular a CCD chip, is arranged so as to ensure that lines, taking into account the Scheimpflug angle, are located perpendicular to the direction of travel of a measuring table. Methods according to the present invention use such devices and function correspondingly. In addition, the invention also makes available a patient data archiving system which comprises a chip card and/or decentralized data storage systems especially for dental data.

Claims

1. A method for determining an optimized slip-on or clip-on direction for planned a dental prosthesis to be slipped-on or clipped-on onto an existing ground portion comprising minimizing undercuttings by:

generating a 3-D data record of the existing ground portion by scanning, the data record being used for model calculations to identify the optimum slip-on or clip-on direction by determining dead space due to undercuttings for each direction by using successively different slip-on or clip-on directions; and

then identifying a variation having the smallest dead space as the optimum slip-on or clip-on direction for the planned dental prosthesis.

2. The method as set forth in claim 1, wherein the planned dental prosthesis is a cap or a bridge.

3. A device for mapping and generating surfaces of teeth comprising means for process and/or cost optimization using the method as set forth in claim 1.

4. A method for determining at least one of an optimized slip-on direction for a planned dental prosthesis configured to be slipped-on onto a portion of one or more teeth that have been ground down to form one or more dental stumps, the method comprising:

scanning the one or more dental stumps;

generating, based on the scanning, a data record comprising 3-D data of the one or more dental stumps;

modeling a plurality of successive slip-on directions of a planned dental prosthesis for the one or more dental stumps;

determining, based on the modeling, an amount of dead space between the planned dental prosthesis and the one or more dental stumps for each of the successive slip-on directions;

identifying, based on the determining, a successive slip-on direction from the plurality of successive slip-on directions comprising a smallest amount of dead space between the planned dental prosthesis and the one or more dental stumps for each of the successive slip-on directions; and

selecting the successive slip-on direction as an optimal slip-on direction for the planned dental prosthesis.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

calculating a set of changes to be made to a shape of at least one of the planned dental prosthesis and the one or more dental stumps based on at least the optimal slip-on direction for the planned dental prosthesis.