Methods and systems for establishing dental occlusion are described herein. These systems and methods can be used for 1-, 2-, or 3-piece maxillary orthognathic surgeries. An example computer-implemented method includes receiving a maxillary dental model and a mandibular dental model, identifying a plurality of dental landmarks in each of the maxillary and mandibular dental models, and extracting a plurality of points-of-interest from each of the maxillary and mandibular dental models. The dental landmarks include a plurality of maxillary dental landmarks and a plurality of mandibular dental landmarks. The method further includes aligning the maxillary and mandibular points-of-interest, and fine tuning the alignment of the maxillary and mandibular dental models to achieve maximum contact with a collision constraint.

Disclosed is a method for determining the relative arrangement of patient's jaws in a bite position when the patient's occlusion is not defined by natural teeth alone, where the method includes a step of obtaining a digital 3D representation including both surface data relating to dental tissue in one of the patient's jaws and surface data relating to a scan appliance arranged in relation to the jaw, where the scan appliance is configured for at least partly defining the patient's occlusion.

Disclosed is a method for determining the relative arrangement of patient's jaws in a bite position when the patient's occlusion is not defined by natural teeth alone, where the method includes a step of obtaining a digital 3D representation including both surface data relating to dental tissue in one of the patient's jaws and surface data relating to a scan appliance arranged in relation to the jaw, where the scan appliance is configured for at least partly defining the patient's occlusion.

Disclosed is a computer-implemented method of using a dynamic virtual articulator for simulating occlusion of teeth, when performing computer-aided designing of one or more dental restorations for a patient, where the method includes the steps of: providing the virtual articulator including a virtual three-dimensional model of the upper jaw and a virtual three-dimensional model of the lower jaw resembling the upper jaw and lower jaw, respectively, of the patient's mouth; providing movement of the virtual upper jaw and the virtual lower jaw relative to each other for simulating dynamic occlusion, whereby collisions between teeth in the virtual upper and virtual lower jaw occur; wherein the method further includes: providing that the teeth in the virtual upper jaw and virtual lower jaw are blocked from penetrating each other's virtual surfaces in the collisions.

Disclosed is a computer-implemented method of using a dynamic virtual articulator for simulating occlusion of teeth, when performing computer-aided designing of one or more dental restorations for a patient, where the method includes the steps of: providing the virtual articulator including a virtual three-dimensional model of the upper jaw and a virtual three-dimensional model of the lower jaw resembling the upper jaw and lower jaw, respectively, of the patient's mouth; providing movement of the virtual upper jaw and the virtual lower jaw relative to each other for simulating dynamic occlusion, whereby collisions between teeth in the virtual upper and virtual lower jaw occur; wherein the method further includes: providing that the teeth in the virtual upper jaw and virtual lower jaw are blocked from penetrating each other's virtual surfaces in the collisions.

Apparatuses, components, devices, methods, and systems for determining and tracking movement are provided. An example apparatus that includes a position indicating system having a first light emitter positioned and oriented to emit light in a first direction, a second light emitter positioned and oriented to emit light in a second direction, the second direction being collinear with and opposite to the first direction; and a third light emitter positioned and oriented to emit light in a third direction, the third direction being different than the first direction and the second direction. The third direction may be offset from the first direction by an offset angle that is an acute angle. The apparatus may also include a screen; an imaging system configured to capture an image of the screen. The first light emitter and the third light emitter may both be configured to emit light toward the screen.

Apparatuses, components, devices, methods, and systems for determining and tracking movement are provided. An example apparatus that includes a position indicating system having a first light emitter positioned and oriented to emit light in a first direction, a second light emitter positioned and oriented to emit light in a second direction, the second direction being collinear with and opposite to the first direction; and a third light emitter positioned and oriented to emit light in a third direction, the third direction being different than the first direction and the second direction. The third direction may be offset from the first direction by an offset angle that is an acute angle. The apparatus may also include a screen; an imaging system configured to capture an image of the screen. The first light emitter and the third light emitter may both be configured to emit light toward the screen.

A method of orthodontic treatment planning for a patient includes receiving three-dimensional intraoral surface scan data of a dentition of the patient, receiving three-dimensional volumetric scan data of a dentition of the patient, and determining, for use in planning an orthodontic treatment, a mandibular rotation axis and a glenoid fossae of the temporal bone based on a mandibular condyle of the patient using the scan data.

A method of orthodontic treatment planning for a patient includes receiving three-dimensional intraoral surface scan data of a dentition of the patient, receiving three-dimensional volumetric scan data of a dentition of the patient, and determining, for use in planning an orthodontic treatment, a mandibular rotation axis and a glenoid fossae of the temporal bone based on a mandibular condyle of the patient using the scan data.

The present invention may comprise a method for a treatment plan for orthodontic movement of natural teeth, the method comprising: Acquiring data of oral anatomy of a patient; Creating a treatment plan for the patient for orthodontic movement of natural teeth, the end result of the treatment plan for the patient being a 3D model; Printing out a physical model of 3D model; Mounting the physical model of the maxillary arch and mandibular arch of the patient's oral anatomy onto a dental articulator to evaluate if at least one of the following exists: 2) if the functional occlusion data of the patient is in centric relation or 2) if malocclusion exists between the maxillary arch and the mandibular arch; Applying any corrections to the 3D model from the step of determining if malocclusion exists, to create functional occlusion data; Combining the functional occlusion data with data of the oral anatomy of the patient to create a virtual treatment solution; and Creating orthodontic appliances from the virtual treatment solution.