Tooth path treatment plan

Details Tooth path treatment plan Tooth path treatment plan

2001-08-29

2004-05-04

Wilson, John J. (Department: 3732)

Dentistry

Orthodontics

Method of positioning or aligning teeth

Reexamination Certificate

active

06729876

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of orthodontics and, more particularly, to computer-automated development of an orthodontic treatment plan and appliance.
2. Description of the Background Art
Repositioning teeth for aesthetic or other reasons is accomplished conventionally by wearing what are commonly referred to as “braces.” Braces comprise a variety of appliances such as brackets, archwires, ligatures, and O-rings. Attaching the appliances to a patient's teeth is a tedious and time-consuming enterprise requiring many meetings with the treating orthodontist. Consequently, conventional orthodontic treatment limits an orthodontist's patient capacity and makes orthodontic treatment quite expensive. As such, the use of conventional braces is a tedious and time consuming process and requires many visits to the orthodontist's office. Moreover, from the patient's perspective, the use of braces is unsightly, uncomfortable, presents a risk of infection, and makes brushing, flossing, and other dental hygiene procedures difficult.
Tooth positioners for finishing orthodontic treatment are described by Kesling in the
Am. J. Orthod. Oral. Surg.
31:297-304 (1945) and 32:285-293 (1946). The use of silicone positioners for the comprehensive orthodontic realignment of a patient's teeth is described in Warunek et al. (1989)
J. Clin. Orthod.
23:694-700. Clear plastic retainers for finishing and maintaining tooth positions are commercially available from Raintree Essix, Inc., New Orleans, La. 70125, and Tru-Tain Plastics, Rochester, Minn. 55902. The manufacture of orthodontic positioners is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,186,623; 5,059,118; 5,055,039; 5,035,613; 4,856,991; 4,798,534; and 4,755,139.
Other publications describing the fabrication and use of dental positioners include Kleemann and Janssen (1996)
J. Clin. Orthodon.
30:673-680; Cureton (1996)
J. Clin. Orthodon.
30:390-395; Chiappone (1980)
J. Clin. Orthodon.
14:121-133; Shilliday (1971)
Am. J. Orthodontics
59:596-599; Wells (1970)
Am. J. Orthodontics
58:351-366; and Cottingham (1969)
Am. J. Orthodontics
55:23-31.
Kuroda et al. (1996)
Am. J. Orthodontics
110:365-369 describes a method for laser scanning a plaster dental cast to produce a digital image of the cast. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,459.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,533,895; 5,474,448; 5,454,717; 5,447,432; 5,431,562; 5,395,238; 5,368,478; and 5,139,419, assigned to Ormco Corporation, describe methods for manipulating digital images of teeth for designing orthodontic appliances.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,405 describes a method for digitally imaging a tooth and determining optimum bracket positioning for orthodontic treatment. Laser scanning of a molded tooth to produce a three-dimensional model is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,198. U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,219 describes a method for laser scanning a tooth model and milling a tooth mold. Digital computer manipulation of tooth contours is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,607,305 and 5,587,912. Computerized digital imaging of the jaw is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,342,202 and 5,340,309. Other patents of interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,549,476; 5,382,164; 5,273,429; 4,936,862; 3,860,803; 3,660,900; 5,645,421; 5,055,039; 4,798,534; 4,856,991; 5,035,613; 5,059,118; 5,186,623; and 4,755,139.
SUMMARY
In one aspect, a computer-implemented method to prepare a malocclusion treatment plan includes selecting a tooth treatment pattern from a library of predetermined tooth treatment patterns; and generating the malocclusion treatment plan implementing the selected tooth treatment pattern.
Implementations of the above aspect may include one or more of the following. The generating the malocclusion treatment plan includes determining one or more tooth paths based on the selected tooth treatment pattern. The treatment pattern can be selected from one or more clinical treatment prescriptions. The clinical treatment prescription includes at least one of the following: space closure, reproximation, dental expansion, flaring, distalization, and lower incisor extraction. The determining a tooth path includes finding a collision free shortest path between an initial position and a final position for one or more teeth. The generating the malocclusion treatment plan includes specifying a series of treatment stages for one or more teeth. The method can include dividing a path for one or more teeth into the series of stages while keeping the movement of teeth in each stage below a predetermined range. The method can include generating an appliance for each treatment stage. The appliance can be either a removable appliance or a fixed appliance. The method can include generating a three-dimensional model for the teeth for each treatment stage. The method also can include generating dental diagnostic information from the three-dimensional model. Interproximal reduction, tooth size discrepancy information, and Bolton information, among others can be generated from the 3D model. The library of treatment patterns includes at least one or more of the following: all equal movement pattern, A-shaped movement pattern, V-shaped movement pattern, M-shaped movement pattern, W-shaped movement pattern, symmetric staircase pattern, asymmetric staircase pattern, and equal equal movement pattern. For the all equal movement pattern, the method includes subdividing paths while satisfying one or more constraints. The constraint can be minimizing tooth oscillation and tooth movement distance. For the equal equal pattern, the method includes dividing the teeth into a prestage movement group and a post stage movement group; and applying the all equal movement to the prestage movement group and subsequently applying the all equal movement to the prestage movement group. For the A-shaped movement pattern, the method includes sequentially moving each tooth from an incisor tooth toward a molar tooth. For the V-shaped movement pattern, the method includes sequentially moving each tooth from a molar tooth toward an incisor tooth.
In another aspect, a computer-implemented method prepares a malocclusion treatment plan by: selecting one tooth treatment pattern from a library of predetermined tooth treatment patterns; generating the malocclusion treatment plan in accordance with the selected treatment pattern; and producing a plurality of data sets representing a series of successive tooth arrangements progressing from a first tooth arrangement to a second tooth arrangement. Implementations of this aspect may include generating an appliance for each tooth arrangement.
In another aspect, a computer-readable medium executable by a computer to prepare a malocclusion treatment plan includes code to select one tooth treatment pattern from a library of predetermined tooth treatment patterns; and code to generate the malocclusion treatment plan in accordance with the selected treatment pattern.
Implementation of this aspect may include one or more of the following. The medium can include code to fabricate an appliance for each tooth arrangement. The code to fabricate appliances can include code to control a fabrication machine to produce successive positive models of the tooth arrangements; and code to produce the appliance as a negative of the tooth model. The code to control a fabrication machine includes code to provide a volume of non-hardened polymeric resin; and code to scan a laser to selectively harden a resin to produce the positive model. The medium can include code to control a fabrication machine to produce successive appliances for the tooth arrangements.
In yet another aspect, a computer-implemented method to automatically stage a series of tooth movements, by selecting one teeth treatment pattern from a plurality of predetermined teeth treatment patterns; generating a treatment plan for the teeth in accordance with the selected move pattern by: generating a treatment plan with a tooth path for each tooth; and determining a series of treatment stages for the teeth; and controlling a fabrication machine to pro

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