Patent ID: 7393209
Filing Date: 2008-07-01
Classification: A61C,G01J,G01N

Abstract:
1. A system for determining the tooth shade of at least a portion of a patient's tooth comprising: a device for capturing electronic images of a patient's tooth; an isolation sleeve surrounding at least a portion of the device to prevent light from external sources from interfering with the capturing of the electronic images of the patient's tooth; a shade analyzer for receiving the electronic images of the patient's tooth from the device, the electronic images including electronic color information representative of tooth color, and for comparing the color information of the patient's tooth with a plurality of tooth shades, the shade analyzer subsystem including: (i) a color processor for determining the color of the patient's tooth from the electronic color information of the image, (ii) memory for storing shade information representative of a plurality of tooth shades, each of the tooth shades corresponding to a different tooth color, and (iii) a color correlation section for comparing the color information of the patient's tooth to the plurality of tooth shades and for identifying a single tooth shade or a combination of tooth shades with a color or combined color corresponding to the color of at least a portion of the patient's tooth, such that the patient's tooth may be comprised of a single tooth shade or a plurality of tooth shades.