A method for examining alveolar bone formation includes filling an alveolar bone with a bone grafting material, suturing gums so as to cover the bone grafting material, and then obtaining a surface shape image using a surface shape acquisition optical system; obtaining an internal cross-sectional image showing a state of the alveolar bone and the bone grafting material at a predetermined location of the obtained surface shape image; obtaining an internal cross-sectional image showing the state of the alveolar bone and the bone grafting material at a corresponding location when a gum surface shape at the location where the internal cross-sectional image was previously obtained is detected while obtaining gum surface shapes by moving the intraoral scanner after a predetermined period has elapsed; and comparing the internal cross-sectional images obtained at a predetermined time interval.

A dental appliance for a patient includes a body including a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface. The second surface defines a channel for receiving a plurality of teeth of the patient. The dental appliance further includes an arrangement of a plurality of features disposed on the first surface of the body. Each of the plurality of features includes a protrusion extending from the first surface opposite to the second surface; a depression extending partially from the first surface wards the second surface; or a through-hole extending from the first surface to the second surface. The arrangement of the plurality of features encodes a feature data representative of a dental appliance information of the dental appliance or a patient information of the patient.