Align Technology Patent Applications

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR SORTING ITEMS

Granted: January 28, 2016
Application Number: 20160023249
A system and associated method is provided for sorting parts, which includes a conveyor system for receiving and circulating a plurality of randomly presented parts, a sorting buffer for accumulating selected parts from the plurality of randomly presented parts in an assigned buffer location, and a sequencing system for sequencing the accumulated selected parts.

DENTAL APPLIANCE WITH REPOSITIONING JAW ELEMENTS

Granted: August 27, 2015
Application Number: 20150238284
The present disclosure provides method, computing device readable medium, and devices for dental appliances with repositioning jaw elements. An example of a method can include identifying a misaligned jaw of a patient from a virtual image of the patient's jaw, and providing a treatment plan for the patient including a virtual model of a dental appliance having a first shell and a second shell configured to reposition at least one tooth of the patient. The virtual model of the dental…

TREATMENT PLAN SPECIFIC BITE ADJUSTMENT STRUCTURES

Granted: August 27, 2015
Application Number: 20150238283
A series of appliances including a first shell and a second shell can be designed to incrementally implement a treatment plan. The first and second shells can have cavities designed to receive teeth of a jaw. A first number of bite adjustment structures can be formed of a same material as the first shell, extending therefrom and designed to interface with teeth of a second jaw. The first number of bite adjustment structures can have a first shape and location specific to a first stage of…

ADHESIVE OBJECTS FOR IMPROVING IMAGE REGISTRATION OF INTRAORAL IMAGES

Granted: July 30, 2015
Application Number: 20150209118
An adhesive object for placement in a patients mouth includes a body with an upper surface and a lower surface, the body having a shape. A lower surface of the body includes an adhesive. An upper surface of the body includes a feature that may be detectable by an intraoral scanner, wherein at least one of the shape of the body or the feature on the upper surface provides a geometrical reference point for image registration of images generated by the intraoral scanner.

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DIGITAL TOOTH IMAGING

Granted: July 23, 2015
Application Number: 20150202025
Method and system for managing multiple impressions of a patient's jaw for an orthodontic treatment is provided. The method includes scanning at least a first impression and a second impression of same jaw for the orthodontic treatment; determining if the first jaw impression and the second jaw impression have distortion in different areas; selecting the first jaw impression or the second jaw impression as a base impression; and replacing a distorted tooth data from the base impression…

GENERATING A DYNAMIC THREE-DIMENSIONAL OCCLUSOGRAM

Granted: May 21, 2015
Application Number: 20150142400
Methods and systems for generating a three-dimensional occlusogram are disclosed. One method includes determining a virtual three dimensional (3D) mesh model object of at least one tooth of a patient and displaying the determined virtual 3D mesh model object of at least one tooth of a patient wherein the 3D mesh model object includes a plurality of data sets associated with a set of occlusal information for the at least one tooth of the patient.

SMILE DESIGNER

Granted: March 19, 2015
Application Number: 20150078637
Various methods and systems for designing a restored smile are provided. One method includes receiving scan data of a patient's teeth, developing a digital model of the patient's teeth via a computing device, where the model represents the patient's teeth based upon the scan data, creating a dental treatment plan to restore one or more teeth from an initial condition to a successive condition, and wherein a final condition of the one or more is based on the one or more teeth having at…

ADJUSTING A TOOTH POSITION

Granted: December 11, 2014
Application Number: 20140363779
The present disclosure provides methods, devices, and systems for adjusting a tooth position. A system for adjusting a tooth position can include an attachment configured to be attached to a tooth to be moved, a dental appliance including a guide slot configured to receive the attachment and to define an adjustment trajectory of the tooth, and an adjustment band to generate force on the tooth to move the tooth along the adjustment trajectory.

PROSTHODONTIC AND ORTHODONTIC APPARATUS AND METHODS

Granted: December 4, 2014
Application Number: 20140358497
System and method for developing a treatment plan for achieving a treatment goal including creating a virtual model of a dental patient's dentition; transforming the virtual model of the dentition using virtual prosthodontics to facilitate achievement of the treatment goal; transforming the virtual model of the dentition using virtual orthodontics to facilitate achievement of the treatment goal; iterating on the transforming steps until substantially achieving the treatment goal; and…

PERSONAL DATA FILE

Granted: September 18, 2014
Application Number: 20140280376
Personal data file embodiments and methods for creating the same are provided. One personal data file embodiment includes personal information about a subject of the personal data file, provided by a user that controls the personal data file, in at least one of a number of personal information data fields, and an image of the subject including a privacy region, where the privacy region hides a first area of the image and leaves a second area of the image visible. The hidden first area is…

TREATMENT OF TEETH BY ALIGNERS

Granted: August 14, 2014
Application Number: 20140229878
A method for treating a subject's teeth. A target configuration for the subject's teeth is determined. Receiving features are produced on a dental base in response to the target configuration, the receiving features being configured to receive physical tooth models. The physical tooth models are assembled on the dental base to form a physical arch model. A dental aligner is produced using the physical arch model to move the subject's teeth to the target configuration.

TACTILE OBJECTS FOR ORTHODONTICS, SYSTEMS AND METHODS

Granted: July 10, 2014
Application Number: 20140193767
Methods, systems, and apparatus's for improving orthodontic treatments. In an embodiment, an orthodontic system including a tactile object is provided for modulating an engagement between a tooth attachment and an orthodontic appliance.

METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR TREATING TEETH

Granted: July 10, 2014
Application Number: 20140193766
A system for repositioning teeth comprises a plurality of individual appliances used with braces. 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 appliances may be substituted with braces as appropriate to optimize the treatment of the teeth.

SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTING DEVIATIONS DURING THE COURSE OF AN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT TO GRADUALLY REPOSITION TEETH

Granted: July 10, 2014
Application Number: 20140193765
Method and system for detecting and correcting deviation during an orthodontic treatment plan is provided. The method includes the steps of receiving an un-segmented current teeth image representing a patient's teeth after an orthodontic treatment plan has begun and before the plan ends for the patient; matching a previously segmented teeth model with the current teeth image; and generating at least one corrective stage to define an intermediate tooth arrangement, wherein the at least…

COMPUTER AUTOMATED DEVELOPMENT OF AN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT PLAN AND APPLIANCE

Granted: June 26, 2014
Application Number: 20140180463
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.

CREATING A DIGITAL DENTAL MODEL OF A PATIENT'S TEETH USING INTERPROXIMAL INFORMATION

Granted: June 19, 2014
Application Number: 20140172375
Creating a digital tooth model of a patient's tooth using interproximal information is provided. Interproximal information is received that represents a space between adjacent physical teeth of the patient. A digital teeth model of a set of physical teeth of the patient that includes the adjacent physical teeth is received. One or more digital tooth models is created that more accurately depicts one or more of the physical teeth than the corresponding digital teeth included in the…

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR OPTICALLY SCANNING AN OBJECT IN REGISTRATION WITH A REFERENCE PATTERN

Granted: June 19, 2014
Application Number: 20140170583
A system for scanning a dental arch of a patient includes a reference element having a reference pattern thereon; a holding mechanism configured to hold the reference element in a fixed position inside the patient's oral cavity adjacent to and spaced from the dental arch, wherein the holding mechanism is configured to be installed on the patient without contacting an occlusal surface of the dental arch; and an intra-oral scanner configured to scan the dental arch and an adjacent portion…

CONFOCAL IMAGING USING ASTIGMATISM

Granted: May 22, 2014
Application Number: 20140139634
The present disclosure provides computing device implemented methods, apparatuses, and computing device readable media for confocal imaging using astigmatism. Confocal imaging can include receiving an image of a portion of an object captured by a confocal imaging device having a particular astigmatic character, determining an image pattern associated with the image, and determining a distance between a focus plane of the confocal imaging device and the portion of the object based, at…

RECONSTRUCTION OF NON-VISIBLE PART OF TOOTH

Granted: May 22, 2014
Application Number: 20140142902
A computer-implemented method for modeling a complete tooth of a patient to facilitate dental and/or orthodontic treatment. The method includes generating a first set of digital data representing a clinical crown; generating a second set of digital data representing a plurality of digital tooth models of a particular tooth type each having a first parameterization; processing the second set of digital data to obtain a third set of digital data representing an average tooth model of the…

FILLING UNDERCUT AREAS OF TEETH RELATIVE TO AXES OF APPLIANCE PLACEMENT

Granted: May 22, 2014
Application Number: 20140142897
The present disclosure provides computing device implemented methods, computing device readable medium, and molds for filling undercut areas of teeth relative to an axis of placement. Filling undercut areas of teeth relative to an axis of placement can include calculating an undercut area of a tooth relative to an axis of placement of part of a dental appliance over a number of teeth and a height of contour that is defined based on the axis of placement. Filling undercut areas of teeth…