Method and kits for forming pontics in polymeric shell aligners
Granted: October 14, 2004
Application Number:
20040202983
Systems and methods are disclosed for forming a pontic in a polymeric shell dental appliance, including providing a polymeric shell dental appliance of the type which is removably placeable over a patient's dentition, said shell having a concave trough which conforms to the teeth when the appliance is placed over the dentition and a location in the trough corresponding to a missing tooth; and depositing a flexible, durably affixed material in the location to form the pontic.
System and method for positioning teeth
Granted: September 30, 2004
Application Number:
20040191719
A method to create a digital model of a patient's teeth includes creating an impression of the patient's teeth; and scanning the impression using an X-ray source to generate the digital model.
Modified tooth positioning appliances and methods and systems for their manufacture
Granted: September 30, 2004
Application Number:
20040191728
The present invention provides improved devices, systems and methods for producing dental molds, each having portions representing a patient's oral soft tissue and a desired tooth configuration. These molds are designed for use in the fabrication of appliances used in orthodontic treatment, particularly, elastic repositioning appliances. However, they may also be used in the fabrication of traditional appliances, such as retainers and positioners, used, for example in the final or…
Subdividing a digital dentition model
Granted: September 9, 2004
Application Number:
20040175671
A computer or other digital circuitry is used to assist in the creation of a digital model of an individual component, such as a tooth or gum tissue, in a patient's dentition. The computer receives a data set that forms a three-dimensional (3D) representation of the patient's dentition, applies a test to the data set to identify data elements that represent portions of the individual component, and creates a digital model of the individual component based upon the identified data…
Embedded features and methods of a dental appliance
Granted: September 2, 2004
Application Number:
20040170941
Traditional orthodontic treatment often involves the use of basic repositioning devices, such as braces, and the use of supplementary devices, components or accessories to achieve desired end results. Such components may be mounted on fixed, non-removable devices or they may be part of a removable appliance typically worn prior to the application of the fixed devices. As with traditional treatment, it may be desired to utilize similar components when repositioning teeth with removable…
System and method for positioning teeth
Granted: September 2, 2004
Application Number:
20040170943
Methods and apparatus fit a set of upper and lower teeth in a masticatory system by generating a computer representation of the masticatory system and computing an occlusion based on interactions in the computer representation of the masticatory system.
Method and system for incrementally moving teeth
Granted: August 26, 2004
Application Number:
20040166456
A system for repositioning teeth comprises a plurality of individual appliances. The appliances are configured to be placed successively on the patient's teeth and to incrementally reposition the teeth from an initial tooth arrangement, through a plurality of intermediate tooth arrangements, and to a final tooth arrangement. The system of appliances is usually configured at the outset of treatment so that the patient may progress through treatment without the need to have the treating…
Systems and methods for fabricating a dental template
Granted: August 26, 2004
Application Number:
20040166462
A dental template to position an object on a patient's tooth includes digitizing the patient's tooth; adding virtual objects to predetermined locations on the digitized tooth; and fabricating the dental template to locate the object on the patient's tooth. The template can be used for etching or for positioning brackets on teeth.
Systems and methods for combination treatments of dental patients
Granted: August 26, 2004
Application Number:
20040166463
Systems and methods for fabricating a dental template to position an object on a patient's tooth to move the tooth from an initial position to a target position are disclosed. The system digitizes a model of the patient's tooth at the initial position; places an object on the tooth model at the target position; determines the position of the object at the initial position; and fabricates the dental template to locate the object on the patient's tooth.
Methods for correcting deviations in preplanned tooth rearrangements
Granted: July 22, 2004
Application Number:
20040142299
Orthodontic treatment is achieved using a series of successive, removable repositioning appliances, such as thin polymeric shell appliances referred to as aligners. A set of aligners is originally provided to the patient. If the patient's treatment goes off course using the original set of aligners, further aligners are designed and fabricated to move the deviant tooth arrangement back to a target tooth arrangement which was part of the original treatment program.
Tooth path treatment plan
Granted: July 15, 2004
Application Number:
20040137400
Systems and methods are disclosed to prepare a malocclusion treatment plan by selecting a tooth treatment pattern from a library of predetermined tooth treatment patterns; and generating the malocclusion treatment plan implementing the selected tooth treatment pattern.
Efficient data representation of teeth model
Granted: July 1, 2004
Application Number:
20040128010
A computer-implemented method for generating a computer model of one or more teeth by receiving a digital data set of meshes representing the teeth; creating a parametric representation of the digital data set; and displaying the computer model of the teeth using the parametric representation.
Computer automated development of an orthodontic treatment plan and appliance
Granted: June 10, 2004
Application Number:
20040110110
A computer is used to create a plan for repositioning an orthodontic patient's teeth. The computer receives an initial digital data set representing the patient's teeth at their initial positions and a final digital data set representing the teeth at their final positions. The computer then uses the data sets to generate treatment paths along which the teeth will move from the initial positions to the final positions.
System and method for separating three-dimensional models
Granted: May 20, 2004
Application Number:
20040096799
A computer-implemented method separates first and second portions of a tooth by defining a cutting surface intersecting the first and second portions by specifying two points; and applying the cutting surface to the tooth to separate the tooth into two portions.
Dental pliers for forming and removing bumps on appliances
Granted: May 6, 2004
Application Number:
20040086823
Pliers for forming and removing bumps for the dental appliance without heating are disclosed. The eraser pliers for erasing a bump on an appliance include a first elongated member having a first jaw portion at one end and a handle portion at the other end, the jaw portion having flat surface mounted at a distal end of the first jaw portion; and a second elongated member joined to the first elongated member, the second elongated member having a second jaw portion at one end and a second…
Digitally modeling the deformation of gingival tissue during orthodontic treatment
Granted: April 29, 2004
Application Number:
20040081938
A computer obtains a digital model of a patient's dentition, including a dental model representing the patient's teeth at a set of initial positions and a gingival model representing gum tissue surrounding the teeth. The computer then derives from the digital model an expected deformation of the gum tissue as the teeth move from the initial positions to another set of positions.
Attachment devices and methods for a dental appliance
Granted: March 11, 2004
Application Number:
20040048223
The present invention provides improved systems and methods for removably attaching a dental positioning appliance to the dental features of a patient during orthodontic treatment. These appliances function by applying force to specific surfaces of the teeth or dental features to cause directed movement. The application of force is improved by the use of one or more attachment devices which may be positioned on the teeth or dental features to provide the appropriate physical features.…
Systems and methods for treatment analysis by teeth matching
Granted: February 26, 2004
Application Number:
20040038168
Systems and methods are disclosed for matching computer models of two sets of teeth includes calculating a difference for two sets of teeth shapes; finding the position of one set of teeth with respect to the other set of teeth; calculating a positional difference of the corresponding teeth; and finding a corrective path to bring one set of teeth to the other set of teeth.
System and methods for dental treatment planning
Granted: February 5, 2004
Application Number:
20040023183
Computer-implemented systems and methods implement a dental treatment plan by specifying tooth movement patterns using a two-dimensional array; and generating treatment paths to move the teeth in accordance with the specified pattern.
Systems and methods for removing gingiva from computer tooth models
Granted: February 5, 2004
Application Number:
20040023188
A computer-implemented method separates gingiva from a model of a tooth by defining a cutting surface along the gingiva; and applying the cutting surface to the tooth to separate the gingiva from the tooth.
