AUTOMATIC CREATION OF A VIRTUAL MODEL OF AT LEAST A PART OF AN ORTHODONTIC APPLIANCE

Abstract

A computer-implemented method and a system create a virtual model of at least a part of an orthodontic appliance. A process for manufacturing at least a part of an orthodontic appliance is described. A device formed by an orthodontic appliance and at least one strut is described.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for creating a virtual model (1) of at least a part of an orthodontic appliance, comprising at least the following steps: providing a virtual tooth model (3) representing at least a lingual part and/or a labial part of a mandible and/or maxilla of a dentition of a patient, the virtual tooth model (3) modeling at least a labial surface and/or a lingual surface of the patient's teeth to which the orthodontic appliance is to be bonded and/or attached accepting, as input, a bonding area and/or and attaching area (4) of the labial surface and/or the lingual surface of the virtual tooth model (3) to which the orthodontic appliance is to be bonded and/or attached or, determining a bonding area and/or an attaching area (4) of the labial surface and/or the lingual surface of the virtual tooth model (3) to which the orthodontic appliance is to be bonded and/or attached using at least one artificial neuronal network to create, on basis of said bonding area and/or attaching area (4) of the virtual tooth model (3), at least the virtual model (1) of at least the part of the orthodontic appliance, the virtual model (1) of at least the part of the orthodontic appliance having a bonding surface and/or attaching surface (5) which is modeled in such a way that said bonding surface and/or attaching surface (5) matches the bonding area and/or attaching area (4) of the virtual tooth model (3).

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the orthodontic appliance is in the form of an aligner and/or a retainer.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein a 3D-model on basis of the virtual tooth model (3) is manufactured by at least one of the group comprising: additive manufacturing, removal of material of a blank and casting.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein based on at least two virtual models (1) of at least a part of the orthodontic appliance a virtual model of a complete orthodontic appliance (18) is created.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a plurality of artificial neuronal networks which work in parallel is used to create the virtual model (1) of at least the part of the orthodontic appliance, in particular virtual models of different parts of the orthodontic appliance (17, 18).

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual tooth model (3) of a patient's tooth is provided in the form of a scan file.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the scan file is provided in the form of at least one CAD file, and wherein the at least one artificial neuronal network is trained to read the at least one CAD file.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual model (1) of at least the part of the orthodontic appliance is provided in the form of at least one CAD file.

9. A system for creating a virtual model (1) of at least a part of an orthodontic appliance, comprising at least: at least one input (13) configured to receive a virtual tooth model (3) representing at least a lingual part and/or a labial part of a mandible and/or maxilla of a dentition of a patient, the virtual tooth model (3) modeling at least a labial surface and/or a lingual surface of the patient's teeth to which the orthodontic appliance is to be bonded and/or attached at least one computing device (14) which is configured to execute at least one artificial neuronal network which is trained to accept, as input (13), a bonding area and/or and attaching area (4) of the labial surface and/or the lingual surface of the virtual tooth model (3) to which the orthodontic appliance is to be bonded and/or attached or, determine a bonding area and/or an attaching area (4) of the labial surface and/or the lingual surface of the virtual tooth model (3) to which the orthodontic appliance is to be bonded and/or attached create, on basis of said bonding area and/or attaching area (4) of the virtual tooth model (3), the virtual model (1) of at least the part of the orthodontic appliance, the virtual model (1) of at least the part of the orthodontic appliance having a bonding surface and/or attaching surface (5) which is modeled in such a way that said bonding surface and/or attaching surface (5) matches the bonding area and/or attaching area (4) of the virtual tooth model (3).

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the orthodontic appliance is in the form of an aligner and/or a retainer.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one computing device (14) is configured to instruct a manufacturing device to manufacture a 3D-model on basis of the virtual tooth model (3) by at least one of the group comprising: additive manufacturing, removal of material of a blank and casting.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein based on at least two virtual models (1) of at least a part of the orthodontic appliance a virtual model of a complete orthodontic appliance (18) is created.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein a plurality of artificial neuronal networks which work in parallel is used to create the virtual model (1) of at least the part of the orthodontic appliance, in particular virtual models of different parts of the orthodontic appliance (16, 17).

14. The system of claim 9, wherein the at least one input (13) is configured to receive the virtual tooth model (3) of a patient's tooth in the form of a scan file.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the at least one input (13) is configured to receive the scan file in the form of at least one CAD file, and wherein the at least one artificial neuronal network is trained to read the at least one CAD file.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein the system is provided with at least one output (19) which is configured to provide the virtual model (1) of at least the part of the orthodontic appliance in the form of at least one CAD file.

17. A process for manufacturing at least a part of an orthodontic appliance by using a virtual model (1) of at least part of an orthodontic appliance created by a method of at least one of claim 1.

18. The process of claim 17 wherein the part of the orthodontic appliance (6) or a complete orthodontic appliance (6) is manufactured by at least one of the group comprising: additive manufacturing, deep drawing and removal of material of a blank.

19. A computer program which, when the program is executed by a computer causes the computer to carry out the method of claim 1.

20. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to carry out the method of claim 1.

21. A data carrier signal carrying: at least one virtual model (1) created by a method of claim 1.

22. A device comprising: an orthodontic appliance (6), in particular manufactured by a process according to claim 17, which is adapted to be bonded or attached to a plurality of teeth and at least one strut (2) wherein the at least one strut (2) is connected to at least two different areas of the orthodontic appliance (6).

23. The device of claim 22, wherein the device is built as a one-piece device.

24. The device of claim 22, wherein the orthodontic appliance (6) is in the form of an aligner and/or a retainer.

25. The device of claim 22, wherein the at least one strut (2) connects at least two different and spatially separated areas of the orthodontic appliance (6) and/or connects at least one area of the orthodontic appliance with a different strut (2).

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0059] The Figures show schematic views of:

[0060] FIG. 1: a system according to an embodiment of the invention

[0061] FIG. 2: a method according to an embodiment of the invention

[0062] FIGS. 3a and 3b: a first orthodontic appliance in the form of a lingual retainer manufactured by a process according to an embodiment of the invention on a plurality of teeth of a mandible of a patient's dentition and a second orthodontic appliance in the form of a lingual retainer manufactured by a process according to an embodiment of the invention—for example for bonding to a maxilla of a patient's dentition

[0063] FIG. 4a: an embodiment of a virtual model in the form of an STL file of an orthodontic appliance in the form of an aligner according to an embodiment of the invention

[0064] FIGS. 4b and 4c: an embodiment of a virtual model in the form of a CAD file of an orthodontic appliance in the form of an aligner according to an embodiment of the invention in a perspective top view and in a perspective bottom view

[0065] FIG. 5: an orthodontic appliance with struts

[0066] FIG. 6: an orthodontic appliance with a single strut

[0067] FIG. 1 shows a system and the steps of a method according to a first embodiment of the invention.

[0068] The system comprises at least one input 13 which is configured to receive a virtual tooth model, e.g., in the form of at least one CAD file. An artificial neuronal network can accept the CAD file or create its own virtual tooth model e.g. by machine laming and/or deep learning. The input 13 is connected to a computing device 14 which, in this embodiment is configured to execute in parallel (i.e., at the same time) at least two ANNs arranged sequentially (i.e., the ANN shown at a lower position in FIG. 1 receives information from the ANN shown at a higher position in FIG. 1). The first ANN is trained to create a virtual model 16 of a first part of an orthodontic appliance (or the complete orthodontic appliance) and to provide this virtual model 16 of the first part of the orthodontic appliance to the sequentially arranged ANN. This ANN receives as input (e.g., via another input 13—not shown—or the input 13 shown in the top of the figure) a virtual model 17 of a second part of the orthodontic appliance and is trained to create, based on the virtual model 16 of the first part and the virtual model 17 of the second part, a virtual model 18 of a complete orthodontic appliance which can be made available via at least one output 19 of the system, e.g., in the form of a CAD file. The virtual model 18 of the complete orthodontic appliance can either be directly provided to a manufacturing device to manufacture a physical embodiment of the complete orthodontic appliance or can be modified by a human operator using one of the computer programs known in the art and then be provided to a manufacturing device to manufacture a physical embodiment of the complete orthodontic appliance. In general, it is conceivable as well that the artificial neuronal network initiates an output of the virtual tooth model or a part of the virtual tooth model to a manufacturing device—for example to manufacture a 3D-model of the virtual tooth model which can be used to produce the orthodontic appliance.

[0069] The virtual model 17 of the second part of the orthodontic appliance can already incorporate the virtual model 16 of the first part of the orthodontic appliance (which can already lead to the virtual model 18 of the complete orthodontic appliance) or alternatively is independent of the virtual model 16 of the first part of the orthodontic appliance, whereby in the latter case the two virtual models 16, 17 of the individual parts of the orthodontic appliance can be combined to the virtual model 18 of the complete orthodontic appliance in a further procedural step by means of the artificial neuronal network.

[0070] The system shown in FIG. 1 could have a computing device 14 which, in this embodiment is configured to execute in parallel (i.e., at the same time) at least two ANNs arranged sequentially wherein the upper ANN in FIG. 1 is trained to create virtual models 16 of bonding surfaces 5 of retainers and/or attaching surfaces 5 of aligners in parallel when provided with a virtual tooth model 3 showing a plurality of teeth (at least a part of at least two teeth); and the lower ANN in FIG. 1 is trained to create virtual models 18 of complete orthodontic appliances when provided with virtual models 16, 17 of a part of the orthodontic appliance.

[0071] FIG. 2 shows a system and the steps of a method according to a second embodiment of the invention.

[0072] The only difference between the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and the second embodiment shown in FIG. 2 consists in the variation that in the second embodiment the computing device 14 is configured to execute in parallel (i.e., at the same time) a plurality of ANNs both, with respect to the upper position in FIG. 2 and with respect to the lower position.

[0073] FIG. 3a shows a virtual tooth model 3 to which a virtual model 1 of the orthodontic appliance in the form of a retainer is bonded digitally. The virtual tooth model 3 models a part of the mandible, whereby the artificial neuronal network determined the bonding area 4 of a labial surface of the virtual tooth model 3 to which the orthodontic appliance is bonded. Dependent on the bonding area 4, the virtual model 1 of the orthodontic appliance is created by the artificial neuronal network, wherein the bonding surface 5 of the virtual model 1 of the orthodontic appliance (in general the individual virtual models 16, 17 which constitute the virtual model 18 of the complete orthodontic appliance) corresponds to the virtual tooth model 1 in a way that the geometry of the relevant teeth with respect to the orthodontic appliance is considered.

[0074] FIG. 3b shows a virtual model 18 of the complete orthodontic appliance that is composed by two virtual models 16, 17. The number of underlying virtual models 16, 17 is in general arbitrary and can depend e.g. on the amount of artificial neuronal networks which are capable of identifying various substructures of the virtual tooth model 3 and/or virtual models 16, 17 of a part of the orthodontic appliance.

[0075] FIG. 4a shows a virtual model 18 of the complete orthodontic appliance in the form of an aligner which can be used to fabricate the aligner directly (via various manufacturing processes like 3D-printing) in a dentist's office for instance.

[0076] The embodiment of FIG. 4b differs from the one of FIG. 4a only in that in this embodiment the virtual model 1 of the orthodontic appliance is in the form of a CAD file. After manufacturing the aligner, the aligner can be attached to a patient's dentition with a highly accurate fit due to the fact that the attaching surface 5 of the virtual model 1 is generated by use of the attaching area 4 of the virtual tooth model 3 with regard to curvature and other geometrical properties.

[0077] The embodiment of FIG. 4c differs from the one of FIG. 4b only in a different angle of perspective, whereby it can be seen that the attaching surface 5 comprises a geometry that reflects the geometry of the corresponding teeth which is modeled by a virtual tooth model 3 (that can be in general a virtual tooth model 3 of the complete dental arch or of at least a part of the dental arch—in particular at least a part of at least two teeth or composed by two virtual tooth models 3 in each case of at least a part of a single tooth).

[0078] FIG. 5 shows a device comprising an orthodontic appliance 6 in the form of a retainer and a plurality of struts 2 which are manufactured by 3D-printing. Milling or other manufacturing processes for example are possible as well to produce the orthodontic appliance 6 based on the virtual model 1. Struts 2 are connected to the orthodontic appliance 6 during the manufacturing process to stabilize the structure. After finishing the manufacturing process, all the struts 2 can be removed to treat a patient's dentition with the retainer. It is possible as well to remove merely some of the struts 2 and use the remaining strut (s) 2 as a assistance for bonding the orthodontic appliance 6 to the dental arch of the patient for treating an orthodontic condition. If applicable, all the struts 2 can remain on the device till the orthodontic appliance 6 is attached to the patient's dentition and afterwards the struts 2 are removed. The intermediate strut 2 connects an intermediate area of the retainer with a strut 2 that connects bordering areas of the retainer.

[0079] The form and the number of connecting points of the struts 2 are in general arbitrary. The struts 2 are not restricted to the manufacturing and/or bonding process of retainers, whereby struts 2 can be for example analogously used for aligners to stabilize the constructional design of the aligner during manufacturing. The struts 2 can be used in an interior surface and/or on an outer surface of the aligner.

[0080] The struts 2 can be connected to the virtual model 1 of the orthodontic appliance by the artificial neuronal network—e.g. by a template or machine learning. A human operator can connect the struts 2 to the virtual model 1 by hand as well to include the struts 2 in the additive (or other) manufacturing process of the orthodontic appliance 6 and in particular of the device with the orthodontic appliance 6 and the struts 2. Locations for connection points with respect to the struts 2 can be pre-defined, defined by hand (in a CAD software on basis of the virtual model 1 for instance) or automatically defined (by the ANN or an algorithmus depending on the virtual model 1).

[0081] FIG. 6 shows an orthodontic appliance 6 with a single strut 2 which acts as a mechanical strengthening structure during the manufacturing process as well as a handling bar for a more comfortable attachment onto the dentition. The strut 2 can in general exhibit solely one of these functions as well. The amount of struts 2 is in general arbitrary.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

[0082] 1 virtual model [0083] 2 strut [0084] 3 virtual tooth model [0085] 4 bonding area and/or attaching area of virtual tooth model [0086] 5 bonding surface and/or bonding surface of orthodontic appliance [0087] 6 orthodontic appliance [0088] 13 input of system [0089] 14 computing device [0090] 16 virtual model of first part of orthodontic appliance [0091] 17 virtual model of second part of orthodontic appliance [0092] 18 virtual model of complete orthodontic appliance [0093] 19 output of system