Virtual and physical dental models of dental surfaces and analog socket structure of a dental implant and related procedures

• US 9,763,758 B2
• Filed: 01/12/2012
• Issued: 09/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 01/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Align Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Kopelman, Avi
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah, Kamini S
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hann, Jay B
• Application Number:
  US13/876,436
• Publication Number:
  US 20130289950A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,077 Days
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 13/0004 Computer-assisted sizing or machining of dental prostheses
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/00 Means to be fixed to the jaw-bone for consolidating natural teeth or for fixing dental prostheses thereon; Dental implants; Implanting tools fastening of peg-teeth in the mouth A61C13/30
• CPC Class Codes: A61C 8/0001 Impression means for implants, e.g. impression coping

Abstract

A system and method for manufacturing a physical model of a dental structure wherein the physical model is configured to allow a dental analog to be inserted into the physical model. A virtual model of the dental structure is provided including a virtual implant spatial disposition with respect to the virtual model corresponding to a physical implant spatial disposition of the dental implant. Using the virtual model, a physical model corresponding to the virtual model is manufactured, the physical model being provided with a physical analog corresponding to the virtual analog. The physical analog installation structure is configured for enabling a dental analog, corresponding to the dental implant, to be inserted. In the installed position, the dental analog has an analog spatial disposition with respect to the physical model corresponding to the physical disposition of the dental implant with respect to the physical dental structure.

Claims

1. A method for creating a virtual model usable for making a physical model of a physical dental structure that includes a dental implant at an implant site, the method comprising:

(a) receiving, on a computer system, a virtual representation of dental surfaces of the physical dental structure and dental implant data representing a location and orientation of the dental implant with respect to the dental surfaces;

(b) receiving, on the computer system, a virtual analog structure, the virtual analog structure being based on said dental implant; and

(c) creating, on the computer system, the virtual model based on;

said virtual representation of dental surfaces; and

a virtual analog socket structure based on said virtual analog structure and said dental implant data, said virtual analog socket structure having a coronal opening and a virtual analog insertion opening on respective ends thereof, wherein;

the coronal opening corresponds to an interface between the dental implant and exposed dental surfaces of the dental structure in contact therewith,

the virtual analog insertion opening is spaced apart from the coronal opening and parts of the virtual model corresponding to dental surfaces and the implant site, and

the virtual analog socket structure is shaped to virtually receive therein said virtual analog structure along an insertion path entering into said virtual analog socket structure via said virtual analog insertion opening,

wherein the analog socket structure comprises a coronal portion, an apical portion, and a shoulder at an interface between the coronal portion and the apical portion, the coronal portion extending from the coronal opening to the shoulder and the apical portion extending from the virtual analog insertion opening to the shoulder, the shoulder being orientated away from the coronal opening and complementary to a face of the virtual analog structure.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said virtual analog structure is representative of a desired dental analog that corresponds to the dental implant.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said virtual analog socket structure is configured for virtually receiving therein said virtual analog structure at a virtual installed position with respect to said virtual representation of dental surfaces corresponding to said implant data.

4. The method according to claim 1 wherein said virtual analog insertion opening is at a location other than at said virtual representation of dental surfaces.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said virtual analog insertion opening is different from an access opening to the virtual analog socket structure that is located at a location in said virtual representation of dental surfaces corresponding to a location of the implant site in the physical dental structure.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said access opening has a smaller maximum width than a maximum width of said virtual analog insertion opening.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises receiving an auxiliary virtual representation of a base structure having base surfaces unrepresentative of said dental surfaces.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein said virtual analog insertion opening is at a location in said virtual representation of dental surfaces corresponding to said base surface.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein said virtual analog socket structure is configured for virtually receiving therein said virtual analog structure along said insertion path, wherein said insertion path is along an insertion direction including at least one of:

a general coronal direction;

a non-apical direction; and

a direction passing through said virtual representation of dental surfaces from a first location with respect to the virtual model corresponding to an inside of the dental structure to a second location with respect to the virtual model corresponding to an outside of the dental structure.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises receiving scan data of the dental structure to generate said virtual representation of dental surfaces, and using a virtual implant part in said virtual representation of dental surfaces corresponding to an exposed part of the dental implant to obtain said dental implant data.

11. The method according to claim 10, comprising comparing said virtual implant part to an implant virtual model representative of the dental implant, and operating on said virtual representation of dental surfaces to determine said dental implant data based on a location and orientation of said virtual implant part with respect to a remainder of said virtual representation of dental surfaces.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the method comprises:

performing receiving scan data from a first scanning procedure of said dental structure with the dental implant exposed to generate said virtual representation of dental surfaces;

mounting a scanning abutment to the dental implant in an abutment spatial disposition with respect to the dental implant, receiving scan data from a second scanning procedure of said dental structure, the scan data from the second scanning procedure including a scanning abutment mounted to the dental implant in abutment spatial disposition with respect to the dental implant thereby generating an auxiliary virtual model, and using a virtual scanning abutment part of the auxiliary virtual model corresponding to the scanning abutment to obtain said dental implant data.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein said virtual analog installation structure comprises a virtual passageway including said virtual analog insertion opening at one end thereof and said coronal opening at an opposed end thereof.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein said virtual passageway is elongate defining a virtual passageway longitudinal axis aligned with an insertion direction into said virtual passageway.

15. The method according to claim 13, wherein said virtual passageway is formed comprising a virtual chamber having a form generally complementary to an external form of at least a part of the dental analog.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein a virtual clearance gap is provided between said virtual passageway and said external form of at least a part of the dental analog.

17. The method according to claim 13, wherein at least a part of said virtual passageway is non-axisymmetric.

18. The method according to claim 13, wherein said virtual passageway comprises a virtual stop configured for virtually abutting a corresponding part of said virtual analog structure for limiting virtual penetration of the virtual analog structure with respect to said virtual model.

19. The method according to claim 1, wherein said virtual model includes a virtual hard model part and a virtual soft model part, wherein said virtual hard model part corresponds to at least some hard tissues of the dental structure and wherein said virtual soft model part corresponds to at least some soft tissues of the dental structure.

20. The method according to claim 19, wherein said virtual soft model part corresponds to an area of the dental structure immediately adjacent the dental implant.

21. The method according to claim 1, wherein the implant site is defined as an area enclosed by a perimeter defined as the interface between the dental surfaces and the dental implant.

22. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

generating machine instructions for manufacturing the physical model based on said virtual model;

outputting the machine instructions for manufacturing the physical model, the physical model comprising a physical analog socket structure based on said virtual analog socket structure.