Systems and method for management and delivery of orthodontic treatment

• US 9,060,829 B2
• Filed: 06/08/2007
• Issued: 06/23/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Sterental, Rene, Shuman, Lou, Singer, Maia
• Primary Examiner(s): Gort, Elaine
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, TRANG T
• Application Number:
  US11/760,689
• Publication Number:
  US 20080305452A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,937 Days
• Field of Search: 705/2, 705/3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/002 Orthodontic computer assisted systems
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 7/08 Mouthpiece-type retainers or positioners, e.g. for both the lower and upper arch arch-shaped medicament applicators for teeth or gums A61C19/063; mouthguards for protecting the teeth of sportsmen A63B71/085
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 23/28 for medicine
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/20 for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 50/50 for simulation or modelling of medical disorders

Abstract

The present invention provides systems and methods of managing delivery of an orthodontic treatment plan using treatment guidelines, instructions and appointment planning tools customized to the individual patient being treated. A method includes, e.g., generating a treatment plan for a patient, generating a customized set of treatment guidelines, providing the set of customized treatment guidelines to the practitioner; and providing a set of orthodontic appliances to the practitioner.

Claims

1. A method of managing delivery of an orthodontic treatment plan, comprising:

generating, by one or more processing devices, a treatment plan for a patient, the plan comprising digital models of teeth of the patient, each model corresponding to each of a plurality of planned successive tooth arrangements for moving the teeth along a treatment path from an initial arrangement toward a selected final arrangement, the plan further comprising a series of one or more treatment phases to move the teeth along the treatment path using a set of orthodontic shell appliances shaped to move the teeth at least partially along the treatment path;

generating, by the one or more processing devices, a set of customized treatment guidelines corresponding to a phase of the treatment plan prior to administering the phase of treatment to the patient, the guidelines comprising one or more recommended appointments for treating the patient and a list of recommended tasks to be completed at the one or more appointments, the guidelines comprising computer readable instructions embodied in a tangible medium that, when executed, cause a computer to;

generate a graphical representation of a projected arrangement of the patient'"'"'s teeth corresponding to one of the plurality of planned successive tooth arrangements;

output recommended timing for scheduling the one or more recommended appointments, wherein the recommended timing coincides with administration of at least one orthodontic shell appliance of the set of orthodontic shell appliances corresponding to the projected arrangement; and

output the list of recommended tasks, the list including the administration of the at least one orthodontic shell appliance of the set of orthodontic shell appliances;

providing the set of customized treatment guidelines to the practitioner; and

providing the set of orthodontic shell appliances to the practitioner, the set of appliances comprising a plurality of appliances shaped to move teeth at least partially along the treatment path.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of customized treatment guidelines comprise instructions for administering treatment to the patient using the set of appliances.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the customized treatment guidelines comprise instructions for modifying a shape of a tooth prior to a phase of treatment.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the modifying comprises interproximal reduction.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the customized treatment guidelines comprise instructions for placement or removal of one or more attachments.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the customized treatment guidelines comprise instructions for auxiliary placement.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the customized treatment guidelines comprise instructions for tracking treatment progress.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the customized treatment guidelines comprise instructions for monitoring patient compliance or progress of treatment.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the customized treatment guidelines comprise instructions for finalizing treatment or maintaining treatment tooth positions.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of customized treatment guidelines comprise electronic data embedded on a computer readable medium.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the providing the practitioner with the set of customized treatment guidelines comprises transmitting the data over a network.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the set of customized treatment guidelines further comprise a universal resource locator (URL).

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the treatment plan is based on an initial model of the patient'"'"'s teeth generated prior to starting the orthodontic treatment plan.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the treatment plan comprises at least an initial arrangement, an intermediate arrangement and a final arrangement.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of planned successive tooth arrangements are generated prior to providing the set of orthodontic appliances to the patient.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a customized set of treatment guidelines corresponding to each phase of treatment according to the treatment plan.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing follow-up additional instructions to the practitioner throughout a treatment phase.

18. A method of managing delivery of an orthodontic treatment plan, comprising:

generating, by one or more processing devices, a treatment plan for a patient, the plan comprising digital models of teeth of the patient, each model corresponding to each of a plurality of planned successive tooth arrangements for moving the teeth along a treatment path from an initial arrangement toward a selected final arrangement;

providing a set of orthodontic shell appliances to the practitioner shaped to move the teeth at least partially along the treatment path;

providing a set of customized treatment guidelines to the practitioner for administering treatment using the set of orthodontic shell appliances prior to the patient being administered a corresponding phase of said treatment, the customized guidelines comprising computer readable instructions embodied in a tangible medium that, when executed, cause a computer to;

generate a graphical representation of a projected arrangement of the patient'"'"'s teeth corresponding to one of the plurality of planned successive tooth arrangements;

output recommended timing for scheduling one or more appointments for treating the patient, wherein the recommended timing coincides with administration of at least one orthodontic shell appliance of the set of orthodontic shell appliances corresponding to the projected arrangement; and

output a list of recommended tasks to be completed at the one or more appointments, the list including the administration of the at least one orthodontic shell appliance of the set of orthodontic shell appliances.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the treatment plan comprises a series of one or more treatment phases to move teeth along the treatment path.

20. The method of claim 19, further comprising generating a customized set of treatment guidelines corresponding to each phase of treatment according to the treatment plan.

21. The method of claim 19, further comprising receiving information regarding progress of the patient'"'"'s teeth following administration of one or more treatment phases.

22. The method of claim 18, wherein the set of appliances are configured to move the patient'"'"'s teeth from an initial arrangement toward an intermediate arrangement.

23. The method of claim 22, further comprising providing a second set of orthodontic appliances to the practitioner, the second set comprising at least one appliance shaped to move teeth from the intermediate arrangement toward a subsequent arrangement;

and providing a second set of customized treatment guidelines to the practitioner for administering treatment using the second set of appliances.

24. The method of claim 23, wherein the subsequent arrangement comprises the selected final arrangement.

25. A system for managing delivery of an orthodontic treatment plan, comprising a computer coupled to a server, the computer comprising a processor and a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, if executed, cause the computer to:

generate a treatment plan for a patient, the plan comprising a plurality of planned successive tooth arrangements for moving teeth of the patient along a treatment path from an initial arrangement toward a selected final arrangement, the plan further comprising a series of one or more treatment phases to move the teeth along the treatment path using a set of orthodontic shell appliances shaped to move the teeth at least partially along the treatment path;

generate a set of customized treatment guidelines corresponding to a phase of treatment according to the treatment plan, the guidelines comprising one or more recommended appointments for treating the patient and a list of recommended tasks to be completed at the one or more appointments;

generate a graphical representation of a projected arrangement of the patient'"'"'s teeth corresponding to a planned successive tooth arrangement;

output the recommended timing for scheduling the one or more recommended appointments, wherein the recommended timing coincides with administration of at least one orthodontic shell appliance of the set of orthodontic shell appliances corresponding to the projected arrangement; and

output the list of recommended tasks, the list including the administration of the at least orthodontic shell appliance of the set of orthodontic shell appliances.

26. The system of claim 25, further comprising transmitting the set of customized treatment guidelines to the dental practitioner.

27. The system of claim 25, further comprising generating the set of orthodontic appliances and providing the appliances to the dental practitioner.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the orthodontic appliances are provided to the dental practitioner together with a corresponding set of customized treatment guidelines for administering treatment to the patient using the set of appliances.

29. The system of claim 25, wherein the treatment plan is based on an initial model of the patient'"'"'s teeth received prior to starting the orthodontic treatment plan.

30. The system of claim 25, further comprising receiving information regarding progress of the patient'"'"'s teeth following administration of one or more sets of appliances to the patient.

31. The system of claim 30, further comprising generating a revised treatment plan based on the information received regarding progress of the patient'"'"'s teeth.