An edentulous mouth insert appliance for mounting upon the edentulous gum of a patient, comprises a u-shaped frame formed of a rigid flexible material, with a portion to embrace the gum and a portion extending beyond the gum with an exposed surface to replicate a bite aligned with the corresponding occlusal plane. The frame has a base supporting a pair of inner and outer side walls spaced apart by the base a distance allowing the frame to encircle and cover the edentulous gum with a space between inner surfaces of the frame and the gum. A fill within the frame fills the space between the frame and the gum upon which the appliance is fitted, providing a void-free seal between the apparatus and the gum.

Systems and methods for automating the production of dental aligners is disclosed. In some embodiments the systems and methods include a three-dimensional printer in communication with one or more computer and one or more computer programs. The system and method configured to permit persons to automatically scan and upload a pre-existing digital scan, x-ray, physical mold or other impression of a person's teeth to the three-dimensional printer for direct real-time printing of custom dental aligners. In some embodiments, the system and method also includes an intraoral scanner configured to permit persons to take and receive a real-time digital scan of their teeth and receive a real-time custom dental aligner, on the same day and from the same integrated system, method, machine, kiosk and location.

A computer-implemented method and system of automatically detecting and removing extraneous material from a digital dental impression includes detecting one or more dental features in a digital dental impression, filtering the one or more dental features, digitally joining the one or more dental features, and determining one or more regions of interest from the joined one or more digital dental features.

A computer-implemented method and system of determining a material surface from a volumetric density file includes generating a density frequency distribution of a volumetric density file of a dental impression and determining an iso-value of density between air and a particular material in the density frequency distribution. A computer-implemented method and system of creating a digital model from a CT scan of a physical dental impression includes selecting an iso-value of density for a digital volumetric density file having one or more voxels, generating one or more digital surface points in virtual 3D space for each of one or more voxels, and selecting a subset of digital surface points from the one or more digital surface points. A computer-implemented method and system of optimizing a digital surface includes moving one or more digital surface points to satisfy a criteria of optimum digital surface selection.

A tube (2) is formed of surgical mesh and has a closed end (4) and a filling end (5) including an opening (6). The tube (2) is packed with unset activated dental bite registration material forming a package. The package is located in an edentulous region of a patients jaw and teeth, particularly where two or more adjacent teeth are missing. A line of impression material is dispensed from a conventional impression material dispensing gun onto the upper surface of the located package and the occlusal surfaces of the subject's remaining teeth. The subject is then encouraged to bite normally into the package the line of impression material so that the impression material records the relative location of the occlusal surfaces of the subjects teeth during a bite. When the material has set the resulting bite registration (9) is removed. Models of the subjects dentition are fabricated from the conventional tray impressions and are then articulated using the bite registration (9) without requiring a wax block step.

Systems and methods for providing oral devices using at-home dental impression kits are disclosed herein. An example method includes scheduling an at-home dental impression kit to be sent to a user that includes at least (i) one or more dental trays and (ii) one or more sets of dental putty that are configured to capture the gingiva of the user without distorting the gum lines of the user. The example method further includes scanning a first impression that is representative of the user's upper jaw, and a second impression that is representative of the user's lower jaw. The example method further includes generating a digital rendering of an oral device, and uploading the digital rendering to an application for viewing by the user. The example method further includes fabricating the oral device based upon digital rendering, and scheduling the oral device to be sent to the user.

An intraoral scanning apparatus has a mouthpiece and a transport apparatus that defines at least a first curved track within the mouthpiece. An image sensor is movable along the first curved track. A scanner is movable along the first curved track, scanning in synchronization with the image sensor and having an illumination source that has a laser light source and beam-shaping optics in the path of the laser light for forming a linear light pattern. At least one actuator is energizable to move the image sensor and scanner along the first curved track for image acquisition. A control logic processor synchronizes the scanner and image sensor for automated acquisition of surface contour data. A display is in signal communication with the control logic processor to process and display the acquired surface contour data.

An oral hygiene device is provided. The oral hygiene device includes a body having a base and first and second opposing sides extending from the base and defining a gap there between. The device may further include a plurality of corresponding notch pairs, wherein each corresponding notch pair has a first notch positioned in the first opposing side and a second notch positioned in the second opposing side. The location of the notch pairs may coincide with a user's mouth and in particular to the position of the user's teeth within the mouth. As such, a fibrous material, such as floss, may be coupled to the device such that the material spans the gap between at least one of the corresponding notch pairs so that the material may be inserted into the spaces between the user's teeth when the device is placed into the user's mouth.

An edentulous mouth insert appliance for mounting upon the edentulous gum of a patient, comprises a u-shaped frame formed of a rigid flexible material, with a portion to embrace the gum and a portion extending beyond the gum with an exposed surface to replicate a bite aligned with the corresponding occlusal plane. The frame has a base supporting a pair of inner and outer side walls spaced apart by the base a distance allowing the frame to encircle and cover the edentulous gum with a space between inner surfaces of the frame and the gum. A fill within the frame fills the space between the frame and the gum upon which the appliance is fitted, providing a void-free seal between the apparatus and the gum.

Example embodiments of the present invention provide a multi-function oral appliance, comprising an elastomeric polymer, a hard non-elastic polymer, or a combination of the two fused together; formed using 3D printing or vacuum-forming; configured to engage all or part of the bottom and top teeth such that the lower jaw is advanced, e.g., 8 mm, anterior to its habitual resting position and opened, e.g., 8 mm, from its habitual resting position when the appliance is applied; and configured such that, e.g., 90%, or more, of airflow through the mouth is blocked by the appliance. In some embodiments, the appliance is configured to include gel-wells in the interior of the appliance.