Patent Publication Number: US-2021192096-A1

Title: Method and system for selecting surface finishes

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present disclosure relates generally to systems for fabricating custom dental components. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to a system for selection and application of surface finishes for a computer manufactured dental component. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The recent era of digital dentistry has had a significant impact on the restorative methods used for conventional and implant dentistry. Technologies such as digital data acquisition, computer aided design (CAD), computer aided manufacturing (CAM) now exist that enable the clinician and laboratory to develop highly aesthetic patient-specific restorations. Traditionally, stock dental components (or a hand modified version of such components) were adapted to specific patients. Such traditional methods depended on manual measurement and tooling, and as a result were time consuming and suffered from accuracy issues. The traditional methods of manual measurement and tooling of a component are being replaced by virtually designed restorations based on digitally acquired anatomic datasets. 
     An example of computer aided design and manufacture of a customized dental component may be the dental restoration of a partially or wholly edentulous patient with artificial dentition. An incision is made through the gingiva to expose the underlying bone. An artificial tooth root, usually a dental implant, is placed in the jawbone for integration. The dental implant generally includes a threaded bore to receive a retaining screw holding mating components therein. During the first stage, the gum tissue overlying the implant is sutured and heals as the osseointegration process continues. 
     Once the osseointegration process is complete, the gum tissue is re-opened to expose the end of the dental implant. A healing component or healing abutment is fastened to the exposed end of the dental implant to allow the gum tissue to heal therearound. Preferably, the gum tissue heals such that the aperture that remains generally approximates the size and contour of the aperture that existed around the natural tooth that is being replaced. To accomplish this, the healing abutment attached to the exposed end of the dental implant has the same shape as the gingival portion of the natural tooth being replaced. The healing abutment is removed and an impression coping is fitted onto the exposed end of the implant. This allows an impression of the specific region of the patient&#39;s mouth to be taken so that an artificial tooth is accurately constructed. Thus, in typical dental implant systems, the healing component and the impression coping are two physically separate components. Preferably, the impression coping has the same gingival dimensions as the healing component so that there is no gap between the impression coping and the wall of the gum tissue defining the aperture. Otherwise, a less than accurate impression of the condition of the patient&#39;s mouth is made. The impression coping may be a “pick-up” type impression coping or a “transfer” type impression coping, both known in the art. After these processes, a dental laboratory creates a prosthesis to be permanently secured to the dental implant from the impression that was made. 
     In addition to the method that uses the impression material and mold to manually develop a prosthesis, systems exist that utilize scanning technology to assist in accurately generating a prosthesis. A scanning device is used in one of at least three different approaches. First, a scanning device can scan the region in the patient&#39;s mouth where the prosthesis is to be placed without the need to use impression materials or to construct a mold. Second, the impression material that is removed from the healing abutment and surrounding area is scanned. Third, a dentist or technician can scan the stone model of the dental region that was formed from the impression material and mold to produce the permanent components. 
     Three basic scanning techniques exist, laser scanning, photographic imaging and mechanical sensing. Each scanning technique is used or modified for any of the above-listed approaches (a scan of the stone model, a scan of the impression material, or a scan in the mouth without using impression material) to create the prosthesis. After scanning, a laboratory can create and manufacture the permanent crown or bridge, usually using a computer aided design (CAD) package. 
     The utilization of a CAD program is one method of creating a three dimensional model based on scanning a dental region. Preferably, after the impression is made of the patient&#39;s mouth, the impression material or stone model is placed on a support table defining the X-Y plane. A scanning laser light probe is directed onto the model. The laser light probe emits a pulse of laser light that is reflected by the model. A detector receives light scattered from the impact of the beam with the impression to calculate a Z-axis measurement. The model and the beam are relatively translated within the X-Y plane to gather a plurality of contact points with known location in the X-Y coordinate plane. The locations of several contact points in the Z-plane are determined by detecting reflected light. Finally, correlating data of the X-Y coordinates and the Z-direction contact points creates a digital image. Once a pass is complete, the model may be tilted to raise one side of the mold relative to the opposite vertically away from the X-Y plane. Subsequent to the model&#39;s second scan, the model may be further rotated to allow for a more accurate reading of the model. After all scans are complete, the data may be fed into a CAD system for manipulation of this electronic data by known CAD software. 
     Photographic imaging can also used to scan impression material, a stone model or to scan directly in the mouth. For example, one system takes photographs at multiple angles in one exposure to scan a dental region, create a model and manufacture a prosthetic tooth. This process is generally initiated with the process of taking a stereophotograph with a camera from approximately 50 to 150 mm away from the patient&#39;s mouth. The stereophotograph can involve a photograph of a patient&#39;s mouth already prepared with implantation devices. Correct spatial positioning of the dental implants is obtained by marking the implant in several locations. The resulting photograph presents multiple images of the same object. The images on the photographs are scanned with a reading device that digitizes the photographs to produce a digital image of the dental region. The data from the scanner is electronically transmitted to a graphical imaging program that creates a model that is displayed to the user. After identification of the shape, position and other details of the model, the ultimate step is the transmission of the data to a computer for manufacturing. 
     The third scanning technique uses mechanical sensing. A mechanical contour sensing device is used to read a dental model and produce a prosthetic tooth. The impression model is secured to a table that may rotate about its longitudinal axis as well as translate along the same axis with variable speeds. A mechanical sensing unit is placed in contact with the model at a known angle and the sensing equipment is held firmly against the surface of the model by a spring. When the model is rotated and translated, the sensing equipment can measure the changes in the contour and create an electronic representation of the data. A computer then processes the electronic representation and the data from the scanning device to create a data array. The computer then compresses the data for storage and/or transmission to the milling equipment. 
     While the current technologies provide a means by which to design and manufacture improved prosthetic restorations, the scope is limited to macro geometry, material type and color shade inputs. A post-processing step is therefore required to create a desirable surface finish (or a multitude of surface finishes) for a restoration component to facilitate needs such as aesthetics, plaque resistance, soft tissue preservation, and restorative retention. Adding to the complexity, this additional step of surface finish selection is open to artistic interpretation of the customer and needs/inputs by the dental laboratory and is limited by the fabrication techniques employed (typically hand manipulation). Thus, while the surface finishes can be modified subsequent to the component fabrication, this is restricted by (a) the ability of the customer to clearly communicate their needs and (b) the skill of the technician in being able to recreate the associated input(s) when fabricating the desired component. 
     As with the macro geometrical design, there is a need to predictably control (specify and produce) the surface finish so that the desired end state for a particular component is achieved. There is also a need to provide an accessible interface for a designer to designate finishes that may be accurately implemented by a tooling system to produce the desired finishes for the component surfaces. There is a further need for a visual interface allowing a designer to accurately designate finishes for the surfaces of a computer generated component. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to one example, a method of selecting a surface finish for a computer designed component associated with an anatomical area of a specific patient is disclosed. The computer designed component including at least one surface is created. An image of the component and the at least one surface is displayed. A plurality of finishes available for the at least one surface is displayed. A selection of one of the plurality of finishes for the at least one surface via a user interface is accepted. 
     Another example is a system to produce a customized component for a specific patient, the system. A storage device stores macro geometric data representing a component having at least one surface. A display displays a user interface showing an image of the component and the at least one surface. A controller displays a plurality of finishes available for the at least one surface and accepts a selection of one of the plurality of finishes for the at least one surface via the user interface. 
     Another example is a non-transitory, machine readable medium having stored thereon instructions for selection of finishes for a component designed specifically for a patient. The stored instructions include machine executable code, which when executed by at least one machine processor, causes the machine to create a computer designed component including at least one surface. The instructions cause the machine to further display an image of the component and the at least one surface. The instructions cause the machine to further display a plurality of finishes available for the at least one surface. The instructions cause the machine to further accept a selection of one of the plurality of finishes for the at least one surface via a user interface. 
     The foregoing and additional aspects and implementations of the present disclosure will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the detailed description of various embodiments and/or aspects, which is made with reference to the drawings, a brief description of which is provided next. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a system for designing and fabricating a dental component by computer aided design and manufacturing; 
         FIG. 2A  is an interface display allowing a user to select surface finishes for dental components produced by the system in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 2B  is a close-up view of an example finish palette presented to a user in the interface display in  FIG. 2A  in order to select a finish for a selected surface; 
         FIG. 3A  is a perspective diagram of a resulting example dental bar component created by the CAD workstation in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3B  is a display of the dental bar in  FIG. 3A  where certain surfaces are highlighted via the interface in  FIG. 2A ; 
         FIG. 3C  is a display of the dental bar in  FIG. 3A  where certain additional surfaces are highlighted via the interface in  FIG. 2A ; 
         FIG. 4A  is a perspective diagram of an abutment component created by the CAD workstation in  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4B  is a display of the abutment in  FIG. 4A  where certain surfaces are highlighted via the interface in  FIG. 2A ; 
         FIG. 4C  is a display of the abutment in  FIG. 4A  where certain surface features to be applied to a surface are highlighted via the interface in  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram of the process of selecting finishes for a computer designed dental component for fabrication by a computer aided manufacturing system. 
     
    
    
     While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular forms disclosed but, on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alterative falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS 
     A computerized design and manufacturing system  100  for designing and manufacturing custom dental components is shown in  FIG. 1 . The system  100  is used to produce dental components such as bars, abutments, implants, crowns, and screws which are specifically tailored to a specific patient anatomy. The system  100  includes a computer aided design (CAD) workstation  102 , a storage device  106 , a computer aided manufacturing (CAM) workstation  108  and a tooling system  110 . The CAD workstation  102  is used to create a three-dimensional model of a desired dental component. The CAD workstation  102  accepts and generates numerical data to fabricate the dental component which may be used by the CAM workstation  108  in conjunction with the tooling system  110  to produce the desired component and provide the appropriate finishes for various surfaces of the component. 
     The numerical data may be obtained from a patient directly via a scanning device such as a three-dimensional laser scanner  112 , a stereophotograph image scanner  114  for photographic imaging and a mechanical contour sensing device  116  for mechanical scanning. Other procedures to obtain numerical data may be used such as forming a cast of the patient and scanning a model produced from cast by one of three scanners described above. The scanners  112 ,  114  or  116  therefore output numerical data specific to the patient that may be used by the component designer to tailor a customized component to fit the desired anatomical areas of a patient. 
     The CAD workstation  102  is coupled to the storage device  106  which stores a library of template components  122  and a library of completed components  124 . The template components in the template components library  122  are starting generic component types which a user may select and modify using the CAD software (i.e., 3shape, DentCAD, Exocad, etc.) to customize the dental component to the specific anatomical requirements of the patient. Each of the implants is an electronic file of macro geometric data representing a component having at least one surface. A user begins the macro geometrical design process by accessing a specific template matching the desired type of dental component from the template library  122 . The user then imports patient specific numeric data that is gathered by scanning methods and tools such as the hand held three-dimensional scanner  112 . For example, specialized software may further interpret the scanned numerical data to construct a three-dimensional visual model of the area that the dental component is to be inserted in order to further assist a component designer. The resulting component design is a macro geometric three-dimensional data representation of the desired component which incorporates the numerical data from the patient. 
     Following completion of the macro geometrical design phase for a dental component using the computer design software running on the CAD workstation  102 , the user completes the component by specifying the surface finish requirements for different surfaces of the completed macro geometrical design using finish selection software running on a workstation such as the CAD workstation  102  in  FIG. 1  as will be explained below. The design software allows for displaying an image of the component and the at least one surface of the component. A plurality of finishes available for the at least one surface is displayed. The software accepts a selection of one of the plurality of finishes for the at least one surface via a user interface as will be explained below. 
     The combined macro geometrical design and finishing data relating to a desired component is stored in the completed components library  124  as a component file and is passed to the CAM workstation  108  which controls the tooling system  110  to produce the physical component. The macro geometrical design data provides the dimensions for which a blank of material should be milled to produce the desired component shape. The selected finishing data provides additional instructions for finishing the surfaces of the component. For example, when a custom abutment is created, the design of the custom abutment and desired finishes from the CAD workstation  102  are input via the CAM workstation  108  into the tooling system  110 . The tooling system  110  includes precision manufacturing machines such as a computer numerical control (CNC) milling machine, to create the custom abutment from a blank of suitable material for the component such as metal, usually titanium, or a titanium alloy, or a ceramic material. Additional machine technologies such as grit/sand blasting, physical vapor deposition, numeric controlled acid etching, numeric controlled nanoscale crystalline deposition, and numeric controlled anodization are controlled via the data from the CAM workstation  108  to provide the desired finishes to the surfaces of the component after completion of milling the blank into the component. 
       FIG. 2A  shows an interface screen  200  that is generated by software for selection of finishes for component surfaces that is executed by the controller of the CAD workstation  102  in this example. Of course the finishing software may be run on any appropriate computing device. In this example, the interface screen  200  is displayed to the user on a display of the CAD workstation  102 . The interface screen  200  serves as a user interface to display a plurality of finishes available for a surface on a component. The interface screen  200  also allows a user to designate the desired finishes for different surfaces of the dental component generated by the CAD program on the CAD workstation  102 . The data for the selected finishes is stored with the component data file for later manufacturing of the physical component. The interface display  200  includes a control menu  202  that allows a user to access various component files from the template library  122  or the completed components library  124  in  FIG. 1 . The control menu  202  also may include command selections that allow the creation and saving of new component files, the control of different selections, the manipulation of data and other functions. The selection of a component file from the template library  122  or the completed components library  124  allows a user to display a list of surfaces specific to that component in a side surface data window  204 . The component design is shown in three-dimensional image form in a component window  206 . An example component image  208  of a dental bar is shown in  FIG. 2A . A library of available surface finishes available for the component designer to select from for each surface of the component  208  that requires finishing is accessed via the interface display  200 . One possible interface is a pop-up window  210  which includes a palette  212  that displays finish selections available for a selected surface. Of course other interfaces such as menu selections accessible by a menu bar such as the control menu  202  or pop-up menus could be provided by the interface  200  to show finish selections. In addition, the various controls, windows and functions of the interface  200  may have any arrangement to facilitate user accessibility and ease and are not limited to the example shown in  FIG. 2A . 
     The component window  206  shows a three-dimensional image of the desired component which may be generated by the CAD application as explained above. The component window  206  in this example shows the three-dimensional image  208  of the CAD created dental component which is a customized dental bar used in a dental restoration process. The image  208  may be rotated by rotational controls or by other user input devices such as a mouse. The user may select surfaces on the image  208  for the selection of finishes. In this example, a user may use a mouse and select various surfaces on the image  208  that require non-default finishes. These surfaces may be highlighted or have a different color or shading to indicate their selection. By rotating the image  208 , all of the component surfaces may be shown to the user. Thus, all of the surfaces of the dental component represented by the image  208  may be shown and therefore selected by a user for finish selection. 
     Each dental component designed by a user may have a variety of surfaces that require finishing instructions and corresponding finishing data that are assigned by a user via the interface  200 . The selections in the palette  212  in the pop-up window  210  show finishes that are available for the surface by selection of the user. The surfaces for each component are listed in the surface data window  204  which shows each surface in entries  220 ,  222 ,  224 ,  226  and  228  and the selected finishes for each surface if applicable. For example, the surface represented by entry  220  has been assigned a smooth finish. For surfaces for which a finish has not been selected, the surface entry indicates that a finish has not been selected such as for surface entry  226 . Alternatively, a default finish may be assigned to each surface initially. The default finish is the finish for that surface if a user does not select a specialized finish. In this example, a box  230  is used to highlight the surface name which is selected on the image  208  in the component window  206 . Each surface may include a descriptive designation for convenience in the surface data window  204  and or on the image  208  or elsewhere in the interface  200 . The designations may include a specific descriptive title, a numerical or character code, etc. 
     As explained above, the pop-up window  210  may have a default setting for the recommended or default finish for each surface in the palette  212 . Other finish options may be available within other menus displayed or accessed on the interface  200 . Further, the available finishes may be based on the location or the size of the component surface. Additionally, where applicable, the user may have the option of using a slider when selecting a finish type that can be further modulated by selection of specific values within a range of values for the finish. For example, a user may select between surface area roughness (Sa) values of 0.05, 0.1, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 10, 20 μm, etc. using a slider control. Alternatively, a user may input specific numerical values for the finish. 
       FIG. 2B  shows a close up of the example pop-up window  210  and the corresponding palette  212  with finishes available for a selected surface in  FIG. 2A . The appropriate finishes for a particular surface are stored and selected by the finishing software for display as selections when a particular surface is selected by the user. The selections on palette  212  may be modified by a user to create customized finishes. Such customized finishes may be saved and offered as a selection for similar component surfaces. One example of such a customized selection is a user designated specific numerical value for a finish. Another example could be the combination of various processing steps and/or the order of application of such steps to the surface as designated by a user. 
     In the example in  FIG. 2B , the palette  212  displays four general finishes in selection areas  260 ,  270 ,  280  and  290 . In this example, the finishes are designated as tool and mold standard finishes which are A finishes in area  260  which are smooth finishes, B finishes in area  270  which are smooth finishes, C finishes in area  280  which are roughened finishes, and D finishes in area  290  which are another class of roughened finishes. Of course any variety or number of finishes may be displayed that are appropriate for the selected surface. As may be seen in  FIG. 2B , each selection area  260 ,  270 ,  280 , and  290  includes graphics showing the appearance of the finish option as well as text describing each finish. Each selection area may also have multiple selections corresponding to different degrees of the finish which may be specifically selected. For example, the finish area  260  representing A finishes (smooth) has an A1 selection  262 , an A2 selection  264  and an A3 selection  266 . In this example, A1-A3 represent different diamond buff finishes, B1-B3 represent different paper grit finishes, C1-C3 represent different stone finishes, and D1-D3 represent different dry blasted finishes. 
     After the user selects the surface on the dental component image  208  and the finish for the surface, the CAD workstation  102  stores the selections for final finishing data of the dental component in the component file. The selected surface finish data is used by the CAM workstation  108  to be applied to the surface via the tooling system  110  in the manufacturing process. 
     Similar to the numerical data being stored during the design phase so that it can be reproduced in the subsequent CAM operations, the corresponding surface finishes are logged and then recreated in the computer controlled manufacturing process performed by the system  100  in  FIG. 1 . Algorithms run by the CAM workstation  108  control the associated operating variables (i.e., tooling, machine speeds, machine feed rates, etc.) for the tooling system  110  to apply the various surface finishes selected by the user of the CAD workstation  102 . Although the above examples relate to surface finishes resulting from mechanical operations (i.e., machining, blasting, etc.), chemical and/or other potentially subtractive or additive processes could also be programmed and loaded for the CAM workstation  108  (i.e., physical vapor deposition (PVD), acid etching, anodizing, deposition, etc.) to further provide additional manufacturing steps for application to the surfaces of the dental component. 
       FIG. 3A  shows an example dental component which is an image of a CAD generated implant bar  300  as shown in the component window  206  of the interface  200  in  FIG. 2 . The implant bar  300  is generated by a CAD workstation such as the CAD workstation  102  in  FIG. 1  using numerical data obtained through the scanning methods described above and user design input. In this example, the bar  300  is used as a superstructure to create a full arch restoration based on a specific patient&#39;s jaw which requires restoration. The numerical data relating to the patient&#39;s jaw is obtained by scanning the edentulous areas of the jaw and incorporated in the design of the bar. More detail relating to the design of the implant bar  300  in  FIG. 3A  is disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 12/271,517 filed Nov. 5, 2008 and is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     A 3D CAD model of the patient&#39;s mouth allows a practitioner to determine locations to place the implants to be utilized, and also allows the practitioner to select particular implants to use on the patient and therefore design the appropriate customized dental bar  300 . First, by analyzing the patient&#39;s particular anatomical structure, the practitioner determines desired locations for implants. Based on the patient&#39;s anatomical structure at the desired locations, a practitioner selects an implant to be placed within the patient. As the general ranges for material properties for Type I-Type IV bone are known, the 3D CAD model of the bones of the patient are assigned material properties. The assigning of material properties may be performed automatically by software based on the results of the CT scan, or a practitioner may analyze the CT scan and assign material properties to the 3D CAD model of the patient based on what is shown on the CT scan. Based on output from CT scan, such as the number of Hounsfield&#39;s units obtained from the CT scan, a bone type may be obtained. 
     The CAD workstation  102  accesses a library of dental implants and other restorative components from a library such as the template library  122  that a practitioner may choose from when developing a treatment plan for a patient. The practitioner selects a proposed implant to use within a first implant site of the patient using the CAD software running on the CAD workstation  102 . As explained above, the storage device  106  contains a library of templates  122  that includes dental implants, so that 3D models exist of the various implants that a practitioner may select. The selection of a proposed implant also causes the CAD software to create an osteotomy for the selected implant at the first implant site of the 3D CAD model. The resulting selected implants and implant sites are incorporated in the design of the implant bar  300  that is specifically tailored to incorporate the numerical data specific to the patient&#39;s jaw noted above. 
     The implant bar  300  is the result of a completed digital file prepared using the CAD workstation  102 . The surface finishes for each of the surfaces of implant bar  300  are selected via the interface  200  and may be directly sent to the CAM workstation  108 . The resulting combined macro geometric data and finishing/manufacturing data is transferred to the CAM workstation  108  in  FIG. 1  for actual production via the tooling system  110 . Since the finishes are selected from known instructions for the desired finishes, this avoids communication errors from the designer to the manufacturer and also results in accurate application of the desired finishes in producing the physical component. 
     In this example, there are four different surfaces  302 ,  304 ,  306 , and  308  on the implant bar  300 . In this example, the surface  302  is the bottom surface of the bar  300 , the surface  304  is the side surfaces of the bar  300 , the surface  306  is the surface of the implant interfaces and the surface  308  is the top surface of the bar  300 . Of course it is to be understood that there may be many other different surfaces that may be shown by increasing the resolution of the component in order to identify or select sub-surfaces, free form surfaces, etc. Since the bar  300  is typically fabricated from metals, the finishes for each of the surfaces  302 ,  304 ,  306  and  308  are specific to metal and may be specialized for the type of metal used. A user may select finishes for each of the different surfaces  302 ,  304 ,  306 , and  308  using the interface  200  shown in  FIG. 2A . In this example, each specific surface for the dental bar  300  has a default finish which is preselected for the particular surface. The default finish for any surface may be changed by the user interface  200 . Table 1 below shows examples of different finishes which may be provided for each surface. In this example, the entries in Table 1 and Table 2 below with an asterisk indicate that the surface finish type may be “fine-tuned” in terms of roughness and/or color with a slider scale. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 1 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Surface 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
               
               
            
               
                 Surface 
                   
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                 Finish 
                 302 
                 304 
                 306 
                 308 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Default 
                 *Smooth 
                 *Smooth 
                 *Roughened 
                 *Roughened 
               
               
                   
                 (A1-A3) 
                 (A1-A3) 
                 (C1-C3) 
                 (C1-C3) 
               
               
                 Option 1 
                 *Roughened 
                 Titanium 
                 *Roughened 
                 *Roughened 
               
               
                   
                 (C1-C3) 
                 Nitride 
                 (D1-D3) 
                 (D1-D3) 
               
               
                 Option 2 
                 *Roughened 
                 *Roughened 
                 *Roughened 
                 *Roughened 
               
               
                   
                 (D1-D3) 
                 (D1-D3) 
                 (grit blast) 
                 (grit blast) 
               
               
                 Option 3 
                 *Roughened 
                 Roughened 
                 *Anodized 
                 *Anodized 
               
               
                   
                 (grit blast) 
                 (Acid Etch) 
                   
                   
               
               
                 Option 4 
                 *Anodized 
                 Nano CaP 
                 *Retention 
                 *Retention 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Deposition 
                 Grooves 
                 Grooves 
               
               
                 Option 5 
                 *Retention 
                 Nano CaP 
                 *Roughened 
                 *Roughened 
               
               
                   
                 Grooves 
                 Deposition + 
                 (D1-D3) + 
                 (D1-D3) + 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Acid Etch 
                 *Retention 
                 *Retention 
               
               
                   
                   
                   
                 Grooves 
                 Grooves 
               
               
                 Option 6 
                 *Roughened 
                 *Anodized 
                 *Smooth 
                 *Smooth 
               
               
                   
                 (D1-D3) +  
                   
                 (A1-A3) 
                 (A1-A3) 
               
               
                   
                 *Retention 
                   
                   
                   
               
               
                   
                 Grooves 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     Each of the surfaces  302 ,  304 ,  306  and  308  of the bar  300  may be highlighted by the user of the interface software. For example,  FIG. 3B  shows the surfaces  304  of the implant sockets of the bar  300  highlighted by changing the color of the surface  304  indicating that a user is selecting the appropriate finish for the surfaces  304 . As explained above, the bar  300  is shown in three-dimensional form to assist the user in viewing the surfaces that require selection of finishes. As shown in Table 1 above, there may be several options for the surfaces  304 . The default option for the surfaces  304  is one of three smooth surfaces A1-A3. Other options may include a Titanium Nitride finish, a roughened finish (C1-C3 or D1-D3), a roughened finish with acid etching, a nano CaP deposition finish, a combined acid etching and nano CaP deposition finish and an anodized finish. As may be seen, the finish selections may incorporate combinations of finishing processes if desired. The bar  300  may be rotated to show different surfaces to assist the user in selecting finishes. 
       FIG. 3C  shows the bar  300  rotated to better show the bottom surface  302 . The bottom surface  302  is highlighted in  FIG. 3C  indicating that the user is selecting the finish for that surface. As shown in Table 1 above, the default option for the bottom surface  302  is one of three smooth surfaces A1-A3. The other options include different degrees of roughened surfaces, roughened finish using grit blast, anodized or retention grooves. 
     A further option for components with multiple elements may be to isolate each surface of each component element. For example, the interface  200  may allow a user to assign each of the socket surfaces  304  a different surface finish. 
     Another example dental component is shown in  FIG. 4A  which shows a dental abutment  400  that is formed from digital data generated from the CAD workstation  102  in  FIG. 1 . The abutment  400  in  FIG. 4A  is formed in accordance with the method disclosed in co-pending application Ser. No. 12/070,922 filed Feb. 22, 2008 which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     The numerical data used to create the abutment  400  is obtained by preparing a stone cast of the patient area with a healing abutment in this example. The cast is scanned using a scanning technique such as the handheld scanner, the laser scanner or the stereophotographic scanner. The scanned data is transferred into a graphical imaging program, such as the CAD software running on the CAD workstation  102  in  FIG. 1  so that a three-dimensional CAD model of the stone cast is created. The CAD model of the stone cast is modified to create a first modified CAD model that removes the healing abutment of that the position of an implant, or the top surface of an implant, underlying the healing abutment is displayed. 
     The CAD program on the CAD workstation  102  is used to design a custom, patient specific, abutment  400  adapted to attach to the implant. The custom abutment  400  supports a final prosthesis, often referred to as a crown. A modified version of the stone model may be used to design the crown to fit between the adjacent teeth based on the specific dimensions and conditions of a patient&#39;s mouth. Thus, obtaining an accurate position of the dental implant is critical to designing an accurate crown. Once the CAD program on the CAD workstation  102  has been used to design a custom abutment, the design of the custom abutment  400  is input into a precision manufacturing system such as the tooling system  110 . In the example of the abutment, the tooling system  110  may include a CNC milling machine, to create the custom abutment  400  from a blank of metal, usually titanium, or a titanium alloy, or from a ceramic material. 
     After the initial abutment is designed by the use of the CAD program on the CAD workstation  102 , the abutment  400  is displayed on the interface  200  in  FIG. 2A  as shown in  FIG. 4A . As shown in  FIG. 4A , the abutment  400  has two different surfaces  402  and  404  that may be provided different final finishes to facilitate considerations such as aesthetics, plaque resistance, soft tissue preservation, and restorative retention. In this example, the selection of finishes for the surfaces  402  and  404  may depend on the material used for the abutment. For example if the abutment  400  is fabricated from a ceramic material such as yttria stabilized polycrystalline tetragonal zirconia (YTZP) ceramic, the finishes available are tailored toward ceramics. Other finishes may be available if a metal such as titanium is used for the abutment. Still other finishes may be available if the abutment is fabricated from a composite material or if the abutment is partially fabricated from titanium for certain elements and ceramic for other elements. 
     In this example, the surface  402  is the underside of the abutment that interfaces with the implant while the upper surface  404  interfaces with the prosthetic such as a crown. In this example, the finishes for each surface  402  and  404  are shown in Table 2. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                 TABLE 2 
               
             
            
               
                   
               
               
                 Surface 
               
            
           
           
               
               
               
            
               
                 Surface 
                   
                   
               
               
                 Finish 
                 402 
                 404 
               
               
                   
               
               
                 Default 
                 *Smooth 
                 *Roughened 
               
               
                   
                 (A1-A3) 
                 (D1-D3) 
               
               
                 Option 1 
                 Titanium 
                 Titanium 
               
               
                   
                 Nitride 
                 Nitride 
               
               
                 Option 2 
                 *Roughened 
                 *Roughened 
               
               
                   
                 (D1-D3) 
                 (C1-C3) 
               
               
                 Option 3 
                 Roughened 
                 *Retention 
               
               
                   
                 (Acid Etch) 
                 Grooves 
               
               
                 Option 4 
                 Nano CaP 
                 *Roughened 
               
               
                   
                 Deposition 
                 (D1-D3) + 
               
               
                   
                   
                 *Retention 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Grooves 
               
               
                 Option 5 
                 Nano CaP 
                 *Retention 
               
               
                   
                 Deposition + 
                 Grooves + 
               
               
                   
                 Acid Etch 
                 Titanium 
               
               
                   
                   
                 Nitride 
               
               
                 Option 6 
                 *Anodized 
                 *Anodized 
               
               
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
       FIG. 4B  shows the surface  402  selected via the interface  200  of the abutment  400 . As shown in  FIG. 4B , the surface  402  is shown in a different color to indicate that the surface has been selected. As shown in Table 2, the default finish which will be displayed to the user is a smooth finish which may have several different graduations. The default option results in the selection of an “A1” finish on the highlighted surface  402 . Other finish options for the surface  402  may include titanium nitride, roughened with acid etch, nano CaP deposition, nano CaP deposition in combination with an acid etch and anodization. 
     The machining of physical features as may be required by the function of the component may also be selected for the surface. For example,  FIG. 4C  shows a cement retention groove feature  406  which may be applied on the surface  404 . As shown in  FIG. 4C , the user interface  200  may include selections for special milling instructions to be applied to a selected surface such as grooving, notches, etc. that may be appropriate to better retain cement for attaching a crown to the upper part of the abutment  400  at the surface  404 . 
     The operation of the example process to select finishes for surfaces on components such as dental components shown in  FIGS. 1-2 , which can be run on the CAD workstation  102  in  FIG. 1 , will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 1-2  in conjunction with the flow diagram shown in  FIG. 5 . The flow diagram in  FIG. 5  is representative of example non-transitory machine-readable instructions for implementing the processes described above to select finishes for surfaces of a computer aided designed dental component. In this example, the machine readable instructions comprise an algorithm for execution by: (a) a processor, (b) a controller, and/or (c) one or more other suitable processing device(s). The algorithm can be embodied in software stored on tangible and non-transitory media such as, for example, a flash memory, a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digital video (versatile) disk (DVD), or other memory devices, but persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that the entire algorithm and/or parts thereof could alternatively be executed by a device other than a processor and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware in a well-known manner (e.g., it may be implemented by an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), a field programmable logic device (FPLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), discrete logic, etc.). For example, any or all of the components of the CAD workstation  102  in  FIG. 1  could be implemented by software, hardware, and/or firmware. Also, some or all of the machine readable instructions represented by the flowchart of  FIG. 5  can be implemented manually. Further, although the example algorithm is described with reference to the flowchart illustrated in  FIG. 5 , persons of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that many other methods of implementing the example machine readable instructions can alternatively be used. For example, the order of execution of the blocks can be changed, and/or some of the blocks described can be changed, eliminated, or combined. 
     A numerical data representation associated with the anatomical area of the patient for the desired component is generated by taking into account the numerical data obtained through scans of a patient or scans of a cast taken from a patient. The macro geometrical data for the customized component is derived from selection of a template from the template library  122  in  FIG. 1  and user input incorporating the numerical data associated with the patient ( 500 ). The program then displays the intermediate component to the user in a three-dimensional display such as the image  208  in the component window  206  in  FIG. 2A  ( 502 ). The program determines surfaces of the designed component that require finishing data ( 504 ). The user may also designate the surfaces of the desired component that requiring finishing data. The program then displays each surface, determines appropriate finish selections for the surface and assigns a default finish to each of the surfaces ( 506 ). 
     The interface  200  then displays finish selections to the user for each of the surfaces for a particular component ( 508 ). The interface  200  then accepts selections for a user for finishes for each of the surfaces ( 510 ). The finish selections are then stored in the storage device  106  to complete the component file in the completed component library  124  ( 512 ). The completed data and finishing data are then passed to the CAM workstation  108  for fabrication of the component ( 514 ). 
     Although the previous examples relate to the selection of surface finishes for a dental bar and a dental abutment, it is to be understood that other dental components such as screws, implants, healing abutments, temporary prostheses, crowns, copings, frameworks, permanent prostheses may be created and fabricated using the surface finish selection interface  200  described above. Further, it is to be understood that although the examples above relate to dental components, other components relating to anatomical restoration may be created and fabricated using the processes described above. For example, surface finishes may be selected for patient specific components such as knee, hip, jaw, shoulder, ankle, and spinal implants. It is to be understood that the user interface described above identifies the logical geometric transitions and defines the resultant surfaces of the component. However, another option is to allow a user to select free form surfaces with a tool such as a virtual paint brush on the interface  200 . The user can in select as many finite surfaces of the components as desired. Of course, there are limitations associated with each surface finish and a warning system might be activated if the user violates certain rules associated with specific surface finishes when selecting surfaces. 
     While particular embodiments and applications of the present invention have been illustrated and described, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the precise construction and compositions disclosed herein and that various modifications, changes, and variations may be apparent from the foregoing descriptions without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.