A system for scanning a dental arch of a patient includes a reference element having a reference pattern thereon; a holding mechanism configured to hold the reference element in a fixed position inside the patient's oral cavity adjacent to and spaced from the dental arch, wherein the holding mechanism is configured to be installed on the patient without contacting an occlusal surface of the dental arch; and an intra-oral scanner configured to scan the dental arch and an adjacent portion of the reference element to obtain a scanned image comprising the scanned portion of the dental arch and the scanned adjacent portion of the reference pattern.

The present disclosure provides methods, computing device readable medium, devices, and systems that utilize a cheek retractor and/or a mobile device holder for case assessment and/or dental treatments. One cheek retractor includes a first and a second lip holder, both including imaging markers of a predetermined size to determine a scale of teeth of a user, where each imaging marker is located a predefined distance from the remaining imaging markers, and where the lip holder is to hold a cheek away from a mouth of a user to expose teeth of the user. A mobile device holder can include elements to receive a mobile device to capture images of the patient's teeth.

A dental impression tray, a kit, and method of using the same are provided for taking an impression of at least a portion of a dental structure of a patient. The tray can include a tray portion, fiduciary markers, and can also have a holding section with two opposing sides and fasteners disposed thereon. The kit can include the tray and a handle portion. The handle can be removably secured to the holding section of the tray. In some embodiments, the handle can include a pair of handle portions. In other embodiments, a part of the handle can be aligned with a facial feature of a patient from whom a dental impression is to be obtained.

A premill abutment and a method of applying the premill abutment are provided. The premill abutment is the form of the abutments used in dental implant applications before being subjected to post-measurement shaping, specifically, the portion corresponding to the gingival region has a three-dimensional shape that is fully compatible with the shape of the gingiva former used in the treatment.

The invention relates to a method in which at a first location (A), such as a dental technician's laboratory or a dentist's surgery, digital image data (18) in the form of single images and/or image sequences are generated and these are transmitted to a second location (B), such as a production centre for denture parts, wherein the digital image data (18) and/or image sequences relate to information on the manufacture of denture parts (15). Furthermore, the invention relates to a scanning device for obtaining data records of dental models with a scanning appliance, such as a scanning head and with a camera, wherein remote data transmission means (8) are provided for transmitting digital image data (18) from the camera in the form of single images and/or image sequences to another location (B), such as a production centre.

A scanning member includes a head portion and a body portion. The head portion has an at least partially flat top surface indicative of a first characteristic of a dental implant, an at least partially flat first side surface indicative of a second characteristic of the dental implant, and a second non-flat side surface that opposes the first side surface. The body portion has a non-rotational feature configured to non-rotationally couple the body portion to the dental implant. The body portion is physically attached to a bottom surface of the head portion to form a generally T shape. The scanning member has an internal through hole for receiving a screw to threadably couple with a threaded bore within the dental implant. A set of scanning members includes scanning members having different body portions configured to couple to dental implants from different manufacturers.

Methods and systems for taking images of a patient's teeth for tracking a progress of an orthodontic procedure. The methods and systems include a mobile device holder with one or more adjustable stops for providing a compressive force on a mobile device placed therein; a cheek retractor coupled to the mobile device holder; and a user interface on the mobile device indicating whether the mobile device holder is in a correct position relative to the patient's teeth as the mobile device holder is moved while the cheek retractor engages a cheek of the patient to expose the patient's teeth, while taking one or more visual images of the exposed teeth using a camera of the mobile device.

Methods and systems for taking images of a patient's teeth for tracking a progress of an orthodontic procedure. The methods and systems include a mobile device holder with one or more adjustable stops for providing a compressive force on a mobile device placed therein; a cheek retractor coupled to the mobile device holder; and a user interface on the mobile device indicating whether the mobile device holder is in a correct position relative to the patient's teeth as the mobile device holder is moved while the cheek retractor engages a cheek of the patient to expose the patient's teeth, while taking one or more visual images of the exposed teeth using a camera of the mobile device.

Methods for tracking progress of a patient undergoing orthodontic treatment are provided. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a 3D model of a dental arch. The 3D model can be generated by receiving a plurality of images of the dental arch, at least some of the images including a portion of the dental arch together with a portion of a reference element. A registration can be determined between an image and at least one other image using the portions of the reference element in the respective images to improve registration accuracy. The plurality of images can be stitched together according to the determined registrations to generate the 3D model of the dental arch. The method can further include assessing progress of the orthodontic treatment by comparing the 3D model of the dental arch to a previous 3D model representing an earlier state of the dental arch.

The invention relates to a spacer (1, 1, 1, 1) comprising: a tubular portion (3) having a longitudinal axis (X); a support assembly (7) attached to the tubular portion comprising two wings (9) having free ends (11), the support assembly being elastically deformable when pressure is applied to the wings in the direction of the longitudinal axis so as to rotate the free ends about a center of rotation (R) between a rest configuration in which the distance between the free ends is at its maximum and a contracted configuration, the center of rotation of the free ends being located, in the rest configuration, at a distance from the edge, measured in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis, of 2 cm or less, preferably 1 cm or less or 0.5 cm or less.