Disclosed herein are methods and apparatus for diagnosing a disease in the gingival region of an individual, comprising: quantitatively measuring blood flow or changes in blood flow in the gingival region of the individual, potentially comparing these data to that of a healthy subject, and diagnosing the disease based one of more of these quantities.

An apparatus that monitors information associated with an oral cavity is provided, the apparatus comprising: a three-dimensional oral appliance; a data collection device having at least one sensor and/or hydrogel like material configured to sense the information associated with the oral cavity; an interface device cooperatively coupled to the data collection device, the interface device configured to transfer the information from the sensor device to a receiving device external to the oral cavity or the entire device is analyzed.

A method for distinguishing between types of intraoral areas of interest (AOIs) includes receiving or generating a first 3D model comprising teeth; receiving or generating a second 3D model comprising the teeth; comparing the first 3D model to the second 3D model; determining a difference between the first 3D model and the second 3D model at a dental site comprising a tooth; determining an intraoral AOI that is associated with the difference; determining whether the difference comprises a first type of change indicative of a first type of intraoral AOI or a second type of change indicative of a second type of intraoral AOI; and responsive to determining that the difference comprises the first type of change, determining that the intraoral AOI is the first type of intraoral AOI and generating an indicator of the first type of intraoral AOI for the tooth.

A processing device may execute instructions from a computer readable medium to perform operations comprising: making a comparison between first image data of at least a portion of a dental arch and second image data of at least the portion of the dental arch; determining a plurality of differences between a first representation of at least the portion of the dental arch in the first image data and a second representation of at least the portion of the dental arch in the second image data; determining that a first difference of the plurality of differences is attributable to tooth movement; determining that a second difference of the plurality of differences is attributable to tooth wear to one or more teeth on at least a portion of the dental arch; and generating a third representation of at least the portion of the dental arch that is a modified version of the second representation, wherein a visual indication of the tooth wear is provided in the third representation.

An organ image capture device is provided with an imaging unit, a display unit, and an information extracting unit. The imaging unit images an organ of a living body and acquires an image thereof. The display unit displays, together with the image acquired by imaging by the imaging unit, an indicator for specifying an organ imaging position satisfying an imaging condition including a condition relating to illumination at the time of imaging by the imaging unit. The information extracting unit extracts information necessary for diagnosing the degree of health of the living body from an image which is acquired by imaging by the imaging unit and is within a range specified by the indicator.

An interdental brush (1) with a handle (2) and a brush head (3), wherein the brush head (3) includes a wire element (4), which extends from the handle (2) to a free end (5) and to which bristles (7) are attached, which decrease in length towards the free end (5) of the wire element (4) in at least one section, and wherein a bristle-free section (8) is formed at the free end (5) of the wire element (4).

A system (100) for detecting tissue inflammation, gingivitis specifically, including a light emitter (102) configured to emit light at a tissue region within a user's mouth; at least four wavelength-sensitive photodetectors (110, 112, 114, and 116) configured to detect optical signals diffusely reflected through the tissue region, each of the at least four wavelength-sensitive photodetectors comprising a filter (BPF1, BPF2, BPF3, and BPF4) and a photodiode (D1, D2, D3, and D4), where the photodiodes are stacked on top of each other to generate current differential signals for amplifiers corresponding with the photodiodes, wherein the generation of the current differential signals removes an unwanted component from the optical signals prior to amplification; and an inflammation detection unit (136) configured to receive outputs from the corresponding amplifiers and detect inflammation at the tissue region.

Disclosed is a device for use in the oral cavity that includes a (1) handle, (2) camera, scanner, or other imaging device (collectively, “camera”), and (3) flexible stem having a first end attached to the handle and a second end attached to the camera. The stem can be moved by an operator into a bent (or curved) position suitable for taking images in various locations in the oral cavity, such as in the back of the mouth and/or behind the teeth. The stem requires an appropriate amount of bending force to be moved into a curved position and then out of the curved position into another position. The flexible stem is configured to require enough bending force so that it does not relax sufficiently to move out of position during normal use.

Maxillary devices and Mandibular devices each have a first housing connectable to a tooth of a user or connectable or integral with a teeth covering, wherein the housing encloses an on-board circuit board and a power source. The first housing of the maxillary devices has a tooth connecting portion, a palate housing portion and/or a buccal housing portion. The first housing of the mandibular devices has a tooth connecting portion and a sublingual portion. Each of the palate housing portion and the buccal housing portion enclose a stimulator having an electrode electrically connected to the on-board circuit board and the power source, and can enclose a sensor and/or a medicament dispenser. The sublingual portion encloses a sensor and a medicament dispenser each of which are in electrical communication with the microprocessor of the on-board circuit board.

A system (100) for detecting tissue inflammation, and gingivitis specifically, including a light emitter (102); a diffuse reflective spectroscopy probe (107) having a source-detector distance between 300 μm-2000 μm; and a plurality of detectors (106, 108, 112) configured to detect: a first wavelength that is less than 615 nm and having a first bandwidth; and second and third wavelengths that are equal to or greater than 615 nm and have second and third bandwidths, respectively, wherein the second or third bandwidth is greater than the first bandwidth.