METHOD FOR OBTAINING SUBGINGIVAL MARGINAL SHAPE FOR PROSTHESIS DESIGN NON-INVASIVELY

Abstract

The present inventive concept relates to a method for obtaining a subgingival marginal shape for a prosthesis design non-invasively by means of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanner for obtaining a subgingival marginal shape and an intraoral scanner for obtaining a tooth surface shape, the method including the steps of: obtaining a surface shape of a prepared tooth by means of the intraoral scanner; obtaining the subgingival marginal shape (crown margin line) of the prepared tooth by means of the OCT scanner; and merging the surface shape of the prepared tooth with the subgingival marginal shape to obtain a final three-dimensional shape of the prepared tooth.

Claims

1. A method for obtaining a subgingival marginal shape for a prosthesis design non-invasively by means of an optical coherence tomography (OCT) scanner for obtaining a subgingival marginal shape and an intraoral scanner for obtaining a tooth surface shape, the method comprising the steps of: obtaining a surface shape of a prepared tooth by means of the intraoral scanner; obtaining the subgingival marginal shape (crown margin line) of the prepared tooth by means of the OCT scanner; and merging the surface shape of the prepared tooth with the subgingival marginal shape to obtain a final three-dimensional shape of the prepared tooth.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the OCT scanner is an OCT system.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of obtaining the subgingival marginal shape (crown margin line) of the prepared tooth comprises the step of marking margin lines on the slice images of the OCT scanner that are repeatedly retrieved from the first slice position of a prepared tooth area to the last slice position thereof.

4. The method according to claim 3, further comprising the step of connecting the marked margin line to the crown margin line.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising the step of transforming the margin line and the crown margin line into STL/PLY formats.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present inventive concept will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0017] FIG. 1 is a concept view showing a method for obtaining a subgingival marginal shape for a prosthesis design non-invasively according to the present inventive concept; and

[0018] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process of obtaining a final shape of a prepared tooth by merging a prepared tooth surface shape and a crown marginal shape according to the present inventive concept.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0019] Objects, characteristics and advantages of the present inventive concept will be more clearly understood from the detailed description as will be described below and the attached drawings. Before the present inventive concept is disclosed and described, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. An embodiment of the present inventive concept as will be discussed later will be in detail described so that it may be carried out easily by those having ordinary skill in the art, and therefore, this does not limit the idea and technical scope of the invention.

[0020] In the description, the thicknesses of the lines or the sizes of the components shown in the drawing may be magnified for the clarity and convenience of the description. In the description, further, the corresponding parts in the embodiments of the present inventive concept are indicated by corresponding reference numerals.

[0021] A term ‘and/or’ includes a combination of a plurality of relevant and described items or any one of a plurality of related and described items. An expression referencing a singular value additionally refers to a corresponding expression of the plural number, unless explicitly limited otherwise by the context. In this application, terms, such as “comprise”, “include”, or ‘have”, are intended to designate those characteristics, numbers, steps, operations, elements, or parts which are described in the specification, or any combination of them that exist.

[0022] Hereinafter, the present inventive concept will be explained in detail with reference to the attached drawings.

[0023] FIG. 1 is a concept view showing a method for obtaining a subgingival marginal shape for a prosthesis design non-invasively according to the present inventive concept.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 1, a method for obtaining a subgingival marginal shape for a prosthesis design non-invasively according to the present inventive concept is performed using both of an intraoral scanner for obtaining a tooth surface shape and an OCT scanner for obtaining a subgingival marginal shape.

[0025] In specific, the intraoral scanner serves to capture a tooth surface shape. The intraoral scanner projects a light source of a projector onto a tooth surface and produces an image of the tooth surface by a camera to obtain the tooth surface shape.

[0026] The subgingival margin is a boundary line of a tooth under the gingiva (the gum) at the time when the tooth is prepared, and the intraoral scanner for obtaining the tooth surface shape is hidden by the gingiva to thus obtain no subgingival marginal shape. However, the OCT scanner obtains the subgingival marginal shape through a tomography technology.

[0027] Accordingly, the OCT scanner can obtain the subgingival marginal shape.

[0028] Therefore, the tooth surface shape obtained by the intraoral scanner is merged with the subgingival marginal shape obtained by the OCT scanner to thus acquire a final shape of the prepared tooth for a prosthesis design upon a prosthesis treatment.

[0029] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process of obtaining a final shape of a prepared tooth by merging a tooth surface shape and a crown marginal shape according to the present inventive concept.

[0030] Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the tooth surface shape is obtained by the intraoral scanner, and a slice image of the OCT scanner at a first slice position corresponding to a tooth preparation area on the obtained tooth surface shape is retrieved. Next, a margin portion on the slice image is marked. In this case, the margin portion is a boundary surface of a prepared tooth line.

[0031] After that, the slice images of the OCT scanner up to the last slice position of the tooth preparation area are repeatedly retrieved, and a crown margin line on the slice images of the OCT scanner is marked. In this case, the crown margin line is the subgingival margin.

[0032] Next, the marked portion is connected to the crown margin line. That is, the boundary surface of the prepared tooth line is connected to the subgingival margin.

[0033] The margin portion (boundary surface of the prepared tooth line) and the crown margin line (the subgingival margin) are transformed into data (for example, STL/PLY formats) available in a 3D tool S/W including a CAD.

[0034] Lastly, the tooth surface shape data of the intraoral scanner and the crown margin data of the OCT scanner, as the transformed data, are merged with each other, thereby measuring the entire shape of the prepared tooth.

[0035] Therefore, the tooth surface shape obtained by the intraoral scanner is merged with the subgingival marginal shape obtained by the OCT scanner to thus acquire a final shape of the prepared tooth for a prosthesis design upon a prosthesis treatment.

[0036] As set forth in the foregoing, the present inventive concept can obtain the subgingival marginal shape by means of the OCT scanner to acquire the entire shape of the prepared tooth for a good quality of prosthesis design.

[0037] The foregoing description of the embodiments of the invention has been presented for the purpose of illustration; it is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the relevant art can appreciate that many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore intended that the scope of the invention be limited not by this detailed description, but rather by the claims appended hereto.