A system and method by which an orthodontic appliance is automatically designed and manufactured from digital lower jaw and tooth shape data of a patient provides for preferably scanning a model of the patient's mouth to produce two or three dimensional images and digitizing contours and selected points. A computer is programmed to construct archforms and calculate finish positions of the teeth, then to design an appliance, preferably including archwires and brackets, to move the teeth to the calculated positions. The lower teeth are positioned at their roots on an arch defined by the lower jaw bone, and the arch is modified to best fit the tooth tips on a smooth curve. Then upper archforms are constructed for the upper teeth. Crown long axes of the teeth are derived and preserved in the treatment which places all lower teeth but the cuspids in a plane and fits the occluding teeth to them. Overlaps for the upper incisors and for cuspid rise are calculated.
This application is a continuation-in-part of the following commonly owned and copending U.S. patent applications, each hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference:
Ser. No. 07/875,663, filed Apr. 29, 1992, now abandoned, which is a continuation of Ser. No. 07/467,162;
Ser. No. 07/775,589, filed Oct. 15, 1991, now abandoned, which is a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 07/467,162; and
Ser. No. 07/467,162, filed Jan. 19, 1990, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,139,419.
This application is also related to commonly assigned U.S. patent applications of the same inventors filed on even date herewith and entitled:
CUSTOM ORTHODONTIC BRACKET FORMING METHOD AND APPARATUS,
METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING JIGS FOR CUSTOM PLACEMENT OF ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCES ON TEETH, AND JIGS FORMED THEREWITH, and
CUSTOM ORTHODONTIC ARCHWIRE FORMING METHOD AND APPARATUS.
An apparatus for bending orthodontic wires has means for guiding and holding a wire. In order to prevent forces resulting from compressive or stretching strain during the bending process, one of these means does not apply any longitudinal forces onto the wire by design. In another implementation, the apparatus for bending orthodontic wires has a gimbal-mounted gripper for bending the wire. Furthermore, a method is disclosed for applying two bends at the same longitudinal wire location in two different directions.
A computerized dental record method includes imaging a patient's teeth as a two-dimensional image, visually superimposing an initial three-dimensional computerized tooth model onto the two-dimensional image of the patient's teeth, interactively adjusting the three-dimensional teeth so that they are aligned with the two-dimensional image, and then storing the adjusted computer graphic model of the teeth as the dental record.
A method and apparatus for simulating tooth movement for an orthodontic patient include processing that begins by determining, on a tooth by tooth basis, a three-dimensional direct path of movement from a three-dimensional digital model of an actual orthodontic structure and a three-dimensional digital model of a desired orthodontic structure. The processing continues by simulating tooth movement for a plurality of teeth based on each tooth's corresponding three-dimensional direct path. The process then determines whether a conflict arises between at least two teeth of the plurality of teeth, or for a single tooth, during the simulating. If a conflict arose between at least two teeth, the conflict is resolved with respect to a priority tooth of the teeth in conflict.
Templates are disclosed that permit an orthodontist to accurately place appliances such as bracket shims or brackets on a tooth or teeth at a desired position. The templates can be used for accurately locating the position of other dental or orthodontic procedures, such as varnishing, tooth etching and root canals. The templates are made from a flexible sheet of material adapted to be adhered directly to the surface of the tooth or teeth. The sheet of material is formed with the outline of the tooth or teeth or in the shape of the tooth to allow the template to be posited in a proper, reference position. The sheet of material is also formed with one or more marks indicating the location of the bracket on the tooth, for example one mark indicting the bracket base location and other marks indicating the orientation of the base and bracket slot. The mark indicating the bracket base is punched out or otherwise removed from the sheet to provide a void in the template, enabling the user to directly bond the bracket to the tooth at the location of the void.
The invention relates to a method for the computer-controlled production of dentures for restoring at least one tooth or jaw area, especially in terms of occlusal or incisal contact. The aim of the invention is to provide a simple means of producing dentures using CAD/CAM techniques, at the same time ensuring that the contact surfaces of the denture have the individual shape required so that absolutely no subsequent work is necessary. To this end, the inventive method comprises the following steps: forming an impression of the upper and lower jaw in order to produce casts of the same and co-ordinating them using an articulator; coordinating at least two points of reference on the upper jaw cast or the lower jaw cast or other selected points of reference with the axis of rotation of the articulator or with at least two points of reference allocated to the same, arranging the upper jaw cast and the lower jaw cast in a measuring device for determining the geometry of the tooth, jaw or jaw area being restored, the two points of reference being arranged in a predetermined position in relation to the system of co-ordinates of the measuring device in order to produce a virtual representation of the axis of rotation of the articulator or the at least two points of reference allocated to the same; digitising the upper and lower jaw casts; constructing the denture using CAD and manufacturing the denture using CAM.
