Custom orthodontic appliance forming method and apparatus
US6846179B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Aug 28, 2001 |
| Grant date | Jan 25, 2005 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 18, 2021 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC B)Performing Operations; Transporting
- CPC primaryB33Y80/00
- WIPO fieldMedical technology
- WIPO sectorInstruments
Abstract
A system (10) and method by which an orthodontic appliance (25) is automatically designed and manufactured from digital lower jaw and tooth shape data of a patient provides for the scanning of the mouth of a patient (12), preferably from a model (20) of the patient's mouth, to produce a three-dimensional digitized model (26) of the shapes of the patient's teeth and their positions in the patient's mouth. Then a computer (30) calculates the post-treatment positions of the teeth and produces three-dimensional images of the teeth, individually and in their calculated positions. An interactive computer link between the doctor's office (11) and the appliance manufacturing facility (13) allows an orthodontist (14) to control the patient's archform and to modify the suggested computer-determined positions and orientations of the teeth in six degrees of freedom, and to experiment with new positions, extractions, over-corrections and other variations, with the computer recalculating the tooth positions with high precision for the approval of the orthodontist. The appliance is automatically designed according to the final design, which also can be interactively modified and approved by the o…
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.