DENTAL WIRE ATTACHMENT
Granted: May 2, 2013
Application Number:
20130108976
Methods and devices utilizing a dental appliance for dental retainer wire attachment are disclosed. One such wire attachment appliance includes a shell having one or more cavities formed therein and shaped to receive one or more teeth, at least two wire attachment members provided on the shell, and at least one attachment material reservoir provided on the shell, wherein the attachment material is provided to attach a wire to a tooth adjacent to a particular reservoir of the at least one…
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR FABRICATING A DENTAL TEMPLATE
Granted: April 18, 2013
Application Number:
20130095448
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.
AUTOMATIC PLACEMENT OF PRECISION CUTS
Granted: April 11, 2013
Application Number:
20130089828
An orthodontic positioning device and methods for making an orthodontic positioning device including a first patient removable orthodontic tooth positioning appliance having teeth receiving cavities shaped to receive and apply a resilient positioning force to a patient's teeth provided in one of an upper jaw and a lower jaw. The first appliance includes a hook configured to receive an orthodontic elastic band. The orthodontic positioning device also includes a second patient removable…
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POSITIONING TEETH
Granted: April 4, 2013
Application Number:
20130085721
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.
LASER CUTTING
Granted: March 21, 2013
Application Number:
20130073071
Laser cutting systems and methods are described herein. One or more systems include a laser generating component, an optical component, a fixture for holding a support with a part positioned on the support, and a control mechanism for adjusting at least one of the laser generating component, the optical component, and the fixture such that a ratio of a laser energy applied to the part and a part material thickness is maintained within a predetermined acceptable range at each point along…
VIRTUAL CEPHALOMETRIC IMAGING
Granted: March 7, 2013
Application Number:
20130058547
Virtual cephalometric imaging includes creating a first 3D virtual model and a second 3D virtual model of a patient's dentition. The first 3D virtual model is based on a first impression taken of the patient's dentition at a first time. The second 3D virtual model is based on a second impression taken of the patient's dentition at a second time. The first and the second 3D virtual models are correlated. A 2D image is generated including a first outline representing a position of at least…
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR TRACKING TEETH MOVEMENT DURING ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT
Granted: January 31, 2013
Application Number:
20130029283
Methods, systems, and apparatus's for improving orthodontic treatments. In an embodiment, an orthodontic tracking template is provided for assisting in determining whether a patient's teeth are in an appropriate tooth arrangement for transitioning between a wire and bracket orthodontic treatment to a patient-removable orthodontic appliance treatment. The tracking template may include a shell portion defining a plurality of tooth-receiving cavities arranged to fit over at least a portion…
PRIORITIZATION OF THREE DIMENSIONAL DENTAL ELEMENTS
Granted: November 15, 2012
Application Number:
20120290269
The present disclosure includes methods, systems, and devices for prioritization of three dimensional dental elements. One method for prioritizing three dimensional dental elements includes receiving a virtual initial dental data set (IDDS) of teeth having spatial information regarding the positions of a number of teeth in the virtual IDDS with respect to each other for presentation of the teeth in a virtual three dimensional space to be viewed on a user interface, setting prioritization…
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR IMPROVED DENTAL GEOMETRY REPRESENTATION
Granted: November 15, 2012
Application Number:
20120290115
A digital data set representing a pre-scanned tooth geometry, including generic crown data, is merged with data representing a scanned patient tooth crown image, which lacks sufficient data to completely represent a complete tooth crown.
METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR THERMAL FORMING AN OBJECT
Granted: October 18, 2012
Application Number:
20120261847
A method and system for thermal forming an object. A mold is provided, a shape of which corresponds to a desired shape of the object. A material is inserted into a heating area, and the material is heated using a plurality of independently controllable heat sources that heat different areas of the material. The heated material is then disposed over or into at least a portion of the mold so as to deform the material. The deformed material may then be trimmed so as to form the object.
COMPUTER AUTOMATED DEVELOPMENT OF AN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT PLAN AND APPLIANCE
Granted: September 27, 2012
Application Number:
20120244488
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 DETECTING DEVIATIONS DURING THE COURSE OF AN ORTHODONTIC TREATMENT TO GRADUALLY REPOSITION TEETH
Granted: September 6, 2012
Application Number:
20120225401
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…
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR POSITIONING TEETH
Granted: September 6, 2012
Application Number:
20120225400
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.
DENTAL APPLIANCE
Granted: August 30, 2012
Application Number:
20120219922
Embodiments include dental appliances, dental appliance systems, and methods of making and using such appliances. In one embodiment, a dental appliance includes a shell having a number of cavities to receive one or more teeth, each cavity having an inner surface. Fewer than all cavities are scaled-up in size by a first selected percentage over one or more dimensions of a corresponding tooth surface to provide a uniform space between the cavity inner surface and the corresponding tooth…
RECONSTRUCTION OF NON-VISIBLE PART OF TOOTH
Granted: August 9, 2012
Application Number:
20120203513
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…
DENTAL POSITIONING APPLIANCE HAVING METALLIC PORTION
Granted: July 26, 2012
Application Number:
20120189971
Embodiments are provided for utilizing metallic portions in dental positioning appliances. One embodiment includes a removable dental positioning appliance having a shell having one or more cavities shaped to receive and reposition one or more teeth from a first orientation to a successive orientation and where at least a portion of the shell is formed from a metallic mesh material.
SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATIC CONSTRUCTION OF ORTHODONTIC REFERENCE OBJECTS
Granted: June 28, 2012
Application Number:
20120166163
System and method for automatic construction of orthodontic reference objects, such as the occlusal plane, arch form, and the local occlusal plane for a patient's teeth are disclosed. In accordance with an exemplary embodiment, a computer-implemented system and method for automatic construction of orthodontic reference objects comprises receiving three dimensional data for the teeth, setting an initial direction for a normal of the occlusal plane, determining tips for selected teeth,…
METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING INDEXING AND CATALOGUING OF ORTHODONTIC RELATED TREATMENT PROFILES AND OPTIONS
Granted: June 28, 2012
Application Number:
20120166213
Method and system for providing an orthodontic profile indexing and treatment plan including comparing an initial patient condition in each of a plurality of dentition categories with one or more reference conditions in each of the plurality of dentition categories, wherein each of the one or more reference conditions has a corresponding representation, selecting at least one reference condition in one or more of the plurality of dentition categories, where each selected reference…
SMILE DESIGNER
Granted: May 3, 2012
Application Number:
20120106812
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…
SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR INTRA-ORAL DRUG DELIVERY
Granted: April 5, 2012
Application Number:
20120082950
Systems and methods are disclosed for intra-oral delivery of drugs.
