Patent ID: 11957533
Assignee: ALIGN TECHNOLOGY, INC.
Field: Medical technology (Instruments)
Classification: CPC A  G | IPC A  G

Claim 8:
9. A method of mapping tooth movements, the method comprising:
(a) generating an orthodontic treatment plan to move a patient's teeth from an initial position toward a final position, the treatment plan comprising a first stage and a second stage;
(b) building a first 3D model of the patient's teeth at the first stage and a second 3D model of the patient's teeth at the second stage;
(c) building a first 3D model of a first neutral aligner at the first stage and second 3D model of a second neutral aligner at the second stage;
(d) mapping spatial differences between second 3D model of the second neutral aligner at the second stage and first 3D model of the first neutral aligner at the first stage;
(e) evaluating mechanical interactions of the second neutral aligner at the second stage with the patient's teeth at the first stage, that corresponds to the first 3D model of the first neutral aligner at the first stage, wherein the evaluating is based at least in part on the mapped spatial differences; and
(f) mapping forces applied by the second neutral aligner at the second stage to each tooth of the patient's teeth at the first stage, wherein the mapping of the applied forces is based at least in part on the evaluated mechanical interacts.