Sequential mouth guard
Granted: November 7, 2023
Patent Number:
11806602
The present invention provides protective repositioning appliances, accommodating mouth guards, and covering guards that protect an orthodontic patient against impact-induced injuries, as well as related systems and methods. A protective appliance can include teeth receiving cavities shaped to receive and reposition a patient's teeth and can include an occlusal portion having an impact-absorbing compliance. An accommodating mouth guard can include teeth receiving cavities shaped to…
Method for sub-gingival intraoral scanning
Granted: November 7, 2023
Patent Number:
11806210
Methods and systems are described that receive intraoral scan data in response to an optical scan of a surface of the tooth and a material disposed between the tooth and a gingiva surrounding the tooth, the material separating the surrounding gingiva from the tooth and covering a sub-gingival surface of the tooth. The received intraoral scan data is processed to differentiate the first optical scan data associated with the sub-gingival surface of the tooth and the second optical scan…
Orthodontic appliances with shell segments and elastic segments
Granted: November 7, 2023
Patent Number:
11806208
Orthodontic appliances and associated methods are provided. In some embodiments, an orthodontic appliance includes an appliance shell configured to reposition a patient's teeth from a first arrangement toward a second arrangement. The appliance shell can include a plurality of shell segments, each shell segment including a first material having a first elastic modulus. The appliance shell can also include a plurality of elastic segments, each elastic segment including a second material…
Adjusting a tooth position
Granted: November 7, 2023
Patent Number:
11806207
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.
Cheek retractor and mobile device holder
Granted: November 7, 2023
Patent Number:
11805991
The present disclosure provides systems that utilize a cheek retractor and/or a mobile device holder. The cheek retractor includes a first and a second lip holder to hold a cheek away from a mouth of a user to expose teeth of the user. A mobile device holder can receive a mobile device to capture images of the patient's teeth. These systems may be useful for case assessment and/or dental treatments.
Systems for generating digital models of patient teeth
Granted: October 31, 2023
Patent Number:
11803669
Systems for modeling a patient's teeth are provided. In some embodiments, a system includes a scanner operable to capture a scanned image of at least a portion of a surface of a first crown component of a first patient tooth, and to generate scanned image data representing a partial portion of the surface of the first crown component. The system can also include a processor configured to create a digital data set representing the scanned image data, select a digital tooth template that…
Occlusal blocks for mandibular relocation
Granted: October 31, 2023
Patent Number:
11801124
A plurality of occlusal blocks for a mandibular relocation may include a first occlusal block including a first engagement surface and a first side surface with a first undercut formed in the first side surface of the first occlusal block. A second occlusal block may include a second engagement surface to engage the first engagement surface and a second side surface with a second undercut formed in the second side surface of the second occlusal block.
Methods for generating composite images of a patient
Granted: October 31, 2023
Patent Number:
11801121
Methods and systems for generating composite images of a patient and models of the patient's dentition are provided. In some embodiments, a method includes generating a plurality of 3D models, each comprising a virtual representation of the patient's dentition at different treatment stages of a treatment plan and obtaining an image of the patient's face and dentition. The method can include projecting the obtained image into a 3D space to create a projected 3D model of the patient's face…
Systems and methods for correcting malocclusions of teeth
Granted: October 24, 2023
Patent Number:
11793608
A system for correcting class III malocclusions is disclosed. The system may include a maxilla appliance having tooth receiving cavities shaped to receive teeth of the maxilla and a first coupling for receiving an elastic. The system may also include a mandibular appliance having tooth receiving cavities shaped to receive teeth of the mandible. In some embodiments, the system includes a class III corrective appliance having a first mount shaped to engage with the mandibular arch of the…
Image based orthodontic treatment refinement
Granted: October 24, 2023
Patent Number:
11800216
A method for dental treatment may include receiving photos capturing a state of a patient's dentition of a patient at a specific time, retrieving a first treatment plan to treat the patient's dentition, identifying an intended arrangement of the first treatment plan at the specific time, evaluating the photo parameters of the photos to generate alignment data to align the intended arrangement of the first treatment plan and the photos, generating an alignment mesh using the alignment…
Health-care systems and methods
Granted: October 24, 2023
Patent Number:
11798046
A virtual health-care electronic commerce community includes a network to communicate information relating to the community; one or more patients coupled to the network; one or more treating professionals coupled to the network; and a server coupled to the network, the server storing data for each patient and performing patient data visualization in response to a user request.
Systems, methods, and devices for applying distributed forces for mandibular advancement
Granted: October 24, 2023
Patent Number:
11793667
Improved systems, methods, and devices for treating sleep apnea are provided herein. In one aspect, an intraoral appliance for treating sleep apnea in a patient comprises an appliance shell comprising a plurality of cavities shaped to receive teeth of a jaw of the patient. The appliance shell can comprise an advancement structure arranged to interact with an opposing jaw of the patient so as to displace the lower jaw anteriorly relative to the upper jaw. The plurality of cavities can…
Apparatus for measuring surface topography of a patient's teeth
Granted: October 24, 2023
Patent Number:
11793611
An apparatus includes a probe and a light source configured to output light. The apparatus includes a light focusing assembly comprising an image space lens, an object space lens and a focus changing assembly between the image space lens and the object space lens. The focus changing assembly is configured to focus the light to a plurality of external focal planes to illuminate a patient's teeth, wherein at least a portion of the focus changing assembly is located at a back focal length…
Image registration of intraoral images using non-rigid indicia
Granted: October 24, 2023
Patent Number:
11793610
A processing device receives intraoral scan data comprising a plurality of intraoral images of a dental site generated during scanning of the dental site by an intraoral scanner, one or more ink markings or other non-rigid indicia having been applied to the dental site prior to the scanning of the dental site, wherein at least two intraoral images of the plurality of intraoral images comprise representations of the one or more ink markings or other non-rigid indica. The processing device…
Devices, systems, and methods for dental arch expansion
Granted: October 24, 2023
Patent Number:
11793606
Methods and systems are provided for generating a treatment plan for arch expansion where a polymeric shell appliance is utilized to generate one or more activation forces that facilitate tooth movement. The polymeric shell appliances may comprise one or more tooth receiving cavities, in which each of the plurality of tooth receiving cavities is shaped and arranged to provide a counter moment of each of the plurality of teeth.
Deep learning for tooth detection and evaluation
Granted: October 17, 2023
Patent Number:
11790643
A method includes receiving an image of a face of a patient, the image including a depiction of teeth; processing the image of the face using one or more trained machine learning model, wherein the one or more trained machine learning model outputs a pixel-level classification of pixels in the image, the pixel level classification comprising a first set of pixels classified as being inside of a bounding shape that bounds a first plurality of teeth depicted in the image and a second set…
Processing color information for intraoral scans
Granted: October 17, 2023
Patent Number:
11792384
A method includes receiving scan data of a tooth during a first mode of operation, the scan data of the tooth having been generated by an intraoral scanner. The method includes invoking a second mode of operation and presenting, in a GUI, an image of the tooth. The method includes presenting, in the GUI, indications of a plurality of color zones of the tooth, the indications comprising, for at least one color zone of the plurality of color zones, an indication that insufficient color…
Treatment of teeth by aligners
Granted: October 17, 2023
Patent Number:
11789594
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. A method for making…
Occlusal block design for lateral locking
Granted: October 17, 2023
Patent Number:
11786341
A first appliance and a second appliance comprise engagement surfaces that provide mandibular relocation forces and forces to limit lateral movement of the jaw, such as opposing inclined surfaces on opposite sides of the mouth. In some embodiments, engagement surfaces between oral appliances comprise a curvature difference, which allows engagement at differing angles and positions.
Customized aligner change indicator
Granted: October 10, 2023
Patent Number:
11779243
According to the techniques herein, one or more sensors coupled to an aligner are used to sense one or more physical qualities of the aligner to determine whether the physical qualities indicate that the aligner material has relaxed and has, e.g., reduced the force systems applied to teeth and/or that the teeth movement for the stage has slowed down. The sensors may provide a signal that represents whether or not the physical qualities fall below a threshold value. A treatment plan may…
