A positioning feedback tool for a dental appliance takes the form of a flexible appearance strip for simulating the appearance of an installed dental appliance on a patient wearer. Dental appliances, such as dentures, rest on the gums of a wearer as functional replacements of teeth. The flexible appearance strip has visual images of dental elements (teeth) for replacing the natural teeth, and depict the size, spacing and color of the dental elements in the finished appliance. Dental elements are affixed onto a foundation mold for resembling a natural row of teeth. The foundation mold receives an imprint of the gums of the wearer, and also receives the dental elements to define the placement of the dental elements. Prior to tooth placement in the foundation mold, the flexible appearance strip is disposed against the installed foundation mold so that the patient may visualize the appearance of the finished appliance.

Disclosed in a method, a user interface and a system for use in determining shade of a patient's tooth, wherein a digital 3D representation including shape data and texture data for the tooth is obtained. A tooth shade value for at least one point on the tooth is determined based on the texture data of the corresponding point of the digital 3D representation and on known texture values of one or more reference tooth shade values.

The invention relates to a computer program for specifying a material color of a dental restoration for which the desired tooth color is entered as a target tooth color (56) by the user, said target tooth color being the tooth color of a neighboring tooth, wherein upon specification of the material color of the dental restoration starting from the target tooth color (56) the material color of the dental restoration material is changed based on parameters such as the color of a stump and/or an abutment, the layer thickness of the dental restoration, the type of the dental restoration as well as the processing technique, wherein the specification of the material color of the dental restoration is controlled by the computer program, and wherein, once a parameter is selected, the next parameter is offered automatically, wherein the selection is limited based on parameters which are dependent on one another, such as the layer thickness, the restoration type, that is to say the indication, and the material.

The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a dental restoration, comprising the steps of rendering (S101) a first digital tooth model with a first material combination for generating a first actual data set representing the optical properties of the first digital tooth model; determining (S102) a first deviation between a target data set and the first actual data set; rendering (S103) a second digital tooth model based on a second combination of materials to generate a second actual data set representing the optical properties of the second digital tooth model; determining (S104) a second deviation between the target data set and the second actual data set; and fabricating (S105) the dental restoration based on the first digital tooth model when the first deviation is less than the second deviation and fabricating the dental restoration based on the second digital tooth model when the second deviation is less than the first deviation.

The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a dental restoration, comprising the steps of rendering (S101) a first digital tooth model with a first material combination for generating a first actual data set representing the optical properties of the first digital tooth model; determining (S102) a first deviation between a target data set and the first actual data set; rendering (S103) a second digital tooth model based on a second combination of materials to generate a second actual data set representing the optical properties of the second digital tooth model; determining (S104) a second deviation between the target data set and the second actual data set; and fabricating (S105) the dental restoration based on the first digital tooth model when the first deviation is less than the second deviation and fabricating the dental restoration based on the second digital tooth model when the second deviation is less than the first deviation.

A method for color customization of dental restorations is presented with the steps of providing tooth measurement data, wherein the tooth measurement data comprise at least one insertion area in which the dental restoration is to be inserted, providing restoration data, providing information about staining or glazing colors, generating a color characteristic from the tooth measurement data taking into account the restoration data, and calculating a multicolor target coloration from the color characteristic taking into account the information on staining or glazing colors, as well as output of the multicolor target coloration for color customization of the dental restoration.

A method for color customization of dental restorations is presented with the steps of providing tooth measurement data, wherein the tooth measurement data comprise at least one insertion area in which the dental restoration is to be inserted, providing restoration data, providing information about staining or glazing colors, generating a color characteristic from the tooth measurement data taking into account the restoration data, and calculating a multicolor target coloration from the color characteristic taking into account the information on staining or glazing colors, as well as output of the multicolor target coloration for color customization of the dental restoration.

[Object] To provide, for a composite resin (CR) having a wide range of applicable colors (shades) (wide-ranging color applicable CR), such as a CR having light diffusion properties and a CR that produces color by means of a structural color, a technology with which an excellent effect, specifically, an increased breadth (number) of applicable shades in comparison to an existing CR other than a wide-ranging color applicable CR, can be achieved. [Solving Means] For example, in a demonstration instrument, a plurality of samples is prepared, a single wide-ranging color applicable CR has been used to restore a cavity in artificial teeth each having a different shade, the cavity being formed at a predetermined position of the artificial teeth, and the plurality of samples is disposed side by side and fixed on a display surface of a display plate, thereby making it possible to compare/contrast conditions of restored portions of the samples to each other and the color tone applicability thereof to those of a teeth to be restored.

[Object] To provide, for a composite resin (CR) having a wide range of applicable colors (shades) (wide-ranging color applicable CR), such as a CR having light diffusion properties and a CR that produces color by means of a structural color, a technology with which an excellent effect, specifically, an increased breadth (number) of applicable shades in comparison to an existing CR other than a wide-ranging color applicable CR, can be achieved. [Solving Means] For example, in a demonstration instrument, a plurality of samples is prepared, a single wide-ranging color applicable CR has been used to restore a cavity in artificial teeth each having a different shade, the cavity being formed at a predetermined position of the artificial teeth, and the plurality of samples is disposed side by side and fixed on a display surface of a display plate, thereby making it possible to compare/contrast conditions of restored portions of the samples to each other and the color tone applicability thereof to those of a teeth to be restored.

The present invention relates to a method for fabricating a dental restoration, comprising the steps of rendering (S101) a first digital tooth model with a first material combination for generating a first actual data set representing the optical properties of the first digital tooth model; determining (S102) a first deviation between a target data set and the first actual data set; rendering (S103) a second digital tooth model based on a second combination of materials to generate a second actual data set representing the optical properties of the second digital tooth model; determining (S104) a second deviation between the target data set and the second actual data set; and fabricating (S105) the dental restoration based on the first digital tooth model when the first deviation is less than the second deviation and fabricating the dental restoration based on the second digital tooth model when the second deviation is less than the first deviation.