Patent ID: 9730777
Date: 2017-08-15
CPC Classifications: A61C,G16H

Claim:
1. A method of making an implant-supported denture device for a patient, comprising the steps of: a) scanning an edentulous jaw of a patient having dental implants to acquire a first image of the edentulous jaw and a provisional denture device that is attached the edentulous jaw, wherein the edentulous jaw is a mandibular arch; b) removing the provisional denture device from the jaw and attaching digital impression copings to a plurality of dental implants implanted in the edentulous jaw, and scanning the patient's edentulous jaw to acquire a second image of the edentulous jaw and the digital impression copings; c) scanning a jaw opposing the edentulous jaw, wherein the opposing jaw comprises dentition, to acquire a third image of the opposing jaw and dentition; d) saving the first, second, and third images into an electronic storage medium; e) registering the images using at least one oral landmark selected from a retromolar pad and a mandibular torus common to the first and second image, and creating a digital patient model; f) forming i. a digital denture design that comprises digital denture teeth and a gingiva region, and ii. a digital substructure design, based on the digital patient model; g) manufacturing a substructure based on the digital substructure design using an automated manufacturing process, and manufacturing a denture shape with a cavity corresponding to the substructure from the digital denture design using an automated manufacturing process; h) assembling the denture shape and the substructure to form an assembly; and i) fabricating the implant-supported denture device from the assembly.