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Matched Legal Cases: ['application No. 09', 'application No. 09', 'Application No. 60', 'application No. 60', 'art 2', 'arts1', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 1', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 3', 'art 4', 'art 2']

Patent US7435083 - Tooth path treatment plan - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Advanced Patent Search | Sign inAdvanced Patent SearchPatentsSystems and methods are disclosed to prepare a malocclusion treatment plan by selecting a tooth treatment pattern from a library of predetermined tooth treatment patterns; and generating the malocclusion treatment plan implementing the selected tooth treatment pattern....http://www.google.com/patents/US7435083?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7435083 - Tooth path treatment planPublication numberUS7435083 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 11/096,627Publication dateOct 14, 2008Filing dateMar 31, 2005Priority dateMay 13, 1999Fee statusPaidAlso published asDE69941161D1, EP1191898A1, EP1191898A4, EP1191898B1, US6318994, US6729876, US6790035, US20020064746, US20020081546, US20040137400, US20070003907, WO2000069356A1, WO2000069356A9Publication number096627, 11096627, US 7435083 B2, US 7435083B2, US-B2-7435083, US7435083 B2, US7435083B2InventorsMuhammad Chishti, Huafeng Wen, Woncheol ChoiOriginal AssigneeAlign Technology, Inc.Patent Citations (91), Non-Patent Citations (99), Referenced by (5), Classifications (10), Legal Events (1) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetTooth path treatment planUS 7435083 B2Abstract Systems and methods are disclosed to prepare a malocclusion treatment plan by selecting a tooth treatment pattern from a library of predetermined tooth treatment patterns; and generating the malocclusion treatment plan implementing the selected tooth treatment pattern.
selecting a tooth treatment pattern from a library of predetermined tooth treatment patterns, the selected pattern comprising an all equal movement pattern, A-shaped movement pattern, V-shaped movement pattern, M-shaped movement pattern, W-shaped movement pattern, symmetric staircase pattern, asymmetric staircase pattern, or equal equal movement pattern;
calculating tooth movement paths for moving teeth from a first tooth arrangement to a second tooth arrangement and in accordance with the selected treatment pattern; and
generating computer models representing a series of successive tooth arrangements progressing along the calculated tooth movement paths in accordance with the selected treatment pattern.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more clinical treatment-prescriptions includes at least one of the following: space closure, reproximation, dental expansion, flaring, proclination, distalization, and lower incisor extraction.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected pattern comprises an all equal movement pattern, further comprising subdividing paths while satisfying one or more constraints.
15. The method of claim 14, wherein the constraint comprises minimizing tooth oscillation and tooth movement distance.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected pattern comprises an equal equal pattern, further comprising:
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected pattern is an A-shaped movement pattern, further comprising sequentially moving each tooth from an incisor tooth toward a molar tooth.
18. The method of claim 1, wherein the selected pattern is a V-shaped movement pattern, further comprising sequentially moving each tooth from a molar tooth toward an incisor tooth.
19. A computer-implemented method for preparing digital models of a patient's teeth, said method comprising:
selecting a tooth treatment pattern from a library of predetermined tooth treatment patterns, the selected pattern comprising an all equal pattern, an A-shaped movement pattern, a V-shaped movement pattern, an M-shaped movement pattern, a W-shaped movement pattern, a symmetric staircase pattern, an asymmetric staircase pattern, or an equal equal movement pattern;
calculating tooth movement paths for moving teeth based on the selected treatment pattern; and
generating computer models representing a series of successive tooth arrangements progressing along the calculated tooth movement paths in accordance with the treatment pattern. Description
CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This application a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/751,847, filed on Jan. 5, 2004, now abandoned, which was a continuation of U.S. application No. 09/943,097, filed Aug. 29, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,876, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. application No. 09/313,289, filed on May 13, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,994, the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
This application is also a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10/404,178, filed on Mar. 31, 2003, which was a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/843,246, filed on Apr. 25, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,602,070 B2, which was a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/313,289, filed on May 13, 1999, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,994, which claimed the benefit of Provisional Application No. 60/199,610, filed on Apr. 25, 2000, the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The present application is also related to U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/169,036, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,807, entitled �System and Method for Repositioning Teeth� and 09/169,034, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,471,511 entitled �Defining Tooth-Moving Appliances Computationally.� Both of these applications were filed Oct. 8, 1998, and the full disclosures of each are incorporated herein by reference.
Repositioning teeth for aesthetic or other reasons is accomplished conventionally by wearing what are commonly referred to as �braces.� Braces comprise a variety of appliances such as brackets, archwires, ligatures, and O-rings. Attaching the appliances to a patient's teeth is a tedious and time-consuming enterprise requiring many meetings with the treating orthodontist. Consequently, conventional orthodontic treatment limits an orthodontist's patient capacity and makes orthodontic treatment quite expensive. As such, the use of conventional braces is a tedious and time consuming process and requires many visits to the orthodontist's office. Moreover, from the patient's perspective, the use of braces is unsightly, uncomfortable, presents a risk of infection, and makes brushing, flossing, and other dental hygiene procedures difficult.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In one aspect, a computer-implemented method to prepare a malocclusion treatment plan includes selecting a tooth treatment pattern from a library of predetermined tooth treatment patterns; and generating the malocclusion treatment plan implementing the selected tooth treatment pattern.
FIG. 11 shows an exemplary A-type movement.
FIG. 2C shows one adjustment appliance 111 which is worn by the patient in order to achieve an incremental repositioning of individual teeth in the jaw as described generally above. The appliance is a polymeric shell having a teeth receiving cavity. This is described in U.S. application Ser. No. 09/169,036, filed Oct. 8, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,807, which claims priority from U.S. application Ser. No. 08/947,080, filed Oct. 8, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,893, which in turn claims priority from provisional application No. 60/050,352, filed Jun. 20, 1997 (collectively the �prior applications�), the full disclosures of which are incorporated by reference.
As set forth in the prior applications, each polymeric shell may be configured so that its tooth receiving cavity has a geometry corresponding to an intermediate or final tooth arrangement intended for the appliance. The patient's teeth are repositioned from their initial tooth arrangement to a final tooth arrangement by placing a series of incremental position adjustment appliances over the patient's teeth. The adjustment appliances are generated at the beginning of the treatment, and the patient wears each appliance until the pressure of each appliance on the teeth can no longer be felt. At that point, the patient replaces the current adjustment appliance with the next adjustment appliance in the series until no more appliances remain. Conveniently, the appliances are generally not affixed to the teeth and the patient may place and replace the appliances at any time during the procedure. The final appliance or several appliances in the series may have a geometry or geometries selected to overcorrect the tooth arrangement, i.e., have a geometry which would (if fully achieved) move individual teeth beyond the tooth arrangement which has been selected as the �final.� Such overcorrection may be desirable in order to offset potential relapse after the repositioning method has been terminated, i.e., to permit some movement of individual teeth back toward their precorrected positions. Overcorrection may also be beneficial to speed the rate of correction, i.e., by having an appliance with a geometry that is positioned beyond a desired intermediate or final position, the individual teeth will be shifted toward the position at a greater rate. In such cases, the use of an appliance can be terminated before the teeth reach the positions defined by the appliance.
1. Crowding 2. Spacing 3. Extraction 4. Stripping Additionally, considerations for the Final Position discussed below may also be used.
2. Final Position. This section is a detailed description of final position objectives and treatment goals�both static and functional. These considerations include
1. Overjet 2. Overbite 3. Midlines 4. Functional Occlusion 5. Classification 6. Torque 7. Tip 8. Rotations 9. Lingual/Palatal 10. Buccal/Facial 11. Intercuspation 12. Initial Position of the Occlusion�CR/CO Considerations 13. Interarch Issues 14. Intra-arch Issues 15. Space 3. Movement. The movement section specifies an order in moving the patient's teeth in order to achieve the goals for final placement. In this process, the orthodontist has precise control over which teeth the orthodontist wants to move and which teeth to anchor (not move), thereby breaking the treatment down into discrete stages. The movement order information is captured for both the upper and the lower arches.
At each stage, major and minor tooth movements are analyzed. Major movements usually occur at the beginning of a tooth's movement. Minor movements usually occur as �detailing� movements that occur toward the end of treatment. On average, each aligner should be able to accomplish movements of about 0.25-0.33 mm and to rotate about 5-10 degrees within a 2-week period. However, biologic variability, patient and clinician preferences are also taken into consideration. Additionally, various movements such as distalization, tip, and torque can have separate parameters.
1. Mesial 2. Distal 3. Buccal/Facial 4. Lingual/Palatial 5. Expansion 6. Space 7. Teeth moving past each other 8. Intrusion 9. Extrusion 10. Rotations 11. Which teeth are moving when? 12. Which teeth move first? 13. Which teeth need to be moved before others are moved? 14. What movements are easily done? 15. Anchorage 16. The orthodontist user's philosophy on distalization of molars and minor expansion in adults In one embodiment, the user can change the number of desired treatment stages from the initial to the target states of the teeth. Any component that is not moved is assumed to remain stationary, and thus its final position is assumed to be the same as the initial position (likewise for all intermediate positions, unless one or more key frames are defined for that component).
The user may also specify �key frames� by selecting an intermediate state and making changes to component position(s). In some embodiments, unless instructed otherwise, the software automatically linearly interpolates between all user-specified positions (including the initial position, all key frame positions, and the target position). For example, if only a final position is defined for a particular component, each subsequent stage after the initial stage will simply show the component an equal linear distance and rotation (specified by a quatemion) closer to the final position. If the user specifies two key frames for that component, the component will �move� linearly from the initial position through different stages to the position defined by the first key frame. It will then move, possibly in a different direction, linearly to the position defined by the second key frame. Finally, it will move, possibly in yet a different direction, linearly to the target position.
In some implementations, non-linear interpolation is used instead of or in addition to linear interpolation to construct a treatment path among key frames. In general, a non-linear path, such as a spline curve, created to fit among selected points is shorter than a path formed from straight line segments connecting the points. A �treatment path� describes the transformation curve applied to a particular tooth to move the tooth from its initial position to its final position. A typical treatment path includes some combination of rotational and translational movement of the corresponding tooth, as described above.
If a collision occurs, a �push� vector is created to shift the path of the planned movement (step 315). Based on the push vector, the current tooth �bounces� from the collision and a new tooth movement is generated (step 316). From step 314 or 316, the movement of the current tooth is finalized.
For each tooth path model For each path increment Load constrains associated with each tooth Move the tooth in view of constraint Perform tooth collision detection If collision occurs, for associated colliding teeth create �push� vector and �bounce� back from collision to avoid collision.
Orthodontic constraints that may be applied by the path-generating program include the minimum and maximum distances allowed between adjacent teeth at any given time, the maximum linear or rotational velocity at which a tooth should move, the maximum distance over which a tooth should move between treatment steps, the shapes of the teeth, the characteristics of the tissue and bone surrounding the teeth (e.g., ankylose teeth cannot move at all), and the characteristics of the aligner material (e.g., the maximum distance that the aligner can move a given tooth over a given period of time). For example, the patient's age and jaw bone density may dictate certain �safe limits� beyond which the patient's teeth should not be forced to move. In general, a gap between two adjacent, relatively vertical and non-tipped central and lateral teeth should not close by more than about 1 mm every seven weeks. The material properties of the orthodontic appliance also limit the amount by which the appliance can move a tooth. For example, conventional retainer materials usually limit individual tooth movement to approximately 0.5 mm between treatment steps. The constraints have default values that apply unless patient-specific values are calculated or provided by a user. Constraint information is available from a variety of sources, including text books and treating clinicians.
In some embodiments, as alluded to above, the software automatically computes the treatment path, based upon the IDDS and the FDDS. This is accomplished using a path scheduling algorithm which determines the rate at which each component, i.e., each tooth, moves along the path from the initial position to the final position. The path scheduling algorithm determines the treatment path while avoiding �round-tripping,� i.e., while avoiding moving a tooth along a distance greater than absolutely necessary to straighten the teeth. Such motion is highly undesirable, and has potential negative effects on the patient.
A collision or interference detection algorithm employed in one embodiment is based on the algorithm described in SIGGRAPH article, Stefan Gottschalk et al. (1996): �OBBTree: A Hierarchical Structure for Rapid Interference Detection.� The contents of the SIGGRAPH article are herein incorporated by reference.
Moreover, the triangles in the model which are not required for collision data may also be specifically excluded from consideration when building an OBB tree. For instance, motion may be viewed at two levels. Objects may be conceptualized as �moving� in a global sense, or they may be conceptualized as �moving� relative to other objects. The additional information improves the time taken for the collision detection by avoiding recomputation of collision information between objects which are at rest relative to each other since the state of the collision between such objects does not change.
FIG. 8 illustrates an alternative collision detection scheme, one which calculates a �collision buffer� oriented along a z-axis 1802 along which two teeth 1804, 1806 lie. The collision buffer is calculated for each treatment step or at each position along a treatment path for which collision detection is required. To create the buffer, an x,y plane 1808 is defined between the teeth 1804, 1806. The plane must be �neutral� with respect to the two teeth. Ideally, the neutral plane is positioned so that it does not intersect either tooth. If intersection with one or both teeth is inevitable, the neutral plane is oriented such that the teeth lie, as much as possible, on opposite sides of the plane. In other words, the neutral plane minimizes the amount of each tooth's surface area that lies on the same side of the plane as the other tooth.
In the plane 1808 is a grid of discrete points, the resolution of which depends upon the required resolution for the collision detection routine. A typical high-resolution collision buffer includes a 400�400 grid; a typical low-resolution buffer includes a 20�20 grid. The z-axis 1802 is defined by a line normal to the plane 1808.
Turning now to FIG. 10, an exemplary X-type movement is shown. The X-type movement is also known as an �All Equal Movement�. In this movement, all teeth in a given group are moving at the same time. The tooth path is determined by dividing a starting frame containing the teeth into half frames and recursively determines intermediate paths in each half. The recursion stops when the moving distance in each frame meets a given criterion. Once the movements are done, the system adjusts teeth movements so that each frame does not exceed one or more distance constraints.
Does the jaw have more than one base? Are the lower jaw teeth attached to upper jaw or vice versa? Are there any duplicate teeth identifications in the same jaw? Does each tooth have polygon shape? Does teeth have high resolution polygon shape? Does the Z Axis for all teeth point at the same direction? Are all teeth in their proper order? Is there any intra arch collision excluding the base at stage 0? Is there any intra arch collision excluding the base at final stage? If any of the above checks fail, the process 2100 aborts. Otherwise, the process 2100 determines whether a user has requested an A shape move pattern, and if so, executes an A shaped path calculation (step 2102) and exits (step 2122). If not, the process 2100 further determines whether the user has requested a left shift move pattern and if so, executes a left shift path calculation (step 2104) before exiting (step 2122). From step 2104, if the user had not specified a left shift move pattern, the process 2100 determines whether the user has requested a right shift move pattern and if so, executes a right shift path calculation (step 2106) before exiting (step 2122).
The system may also incorporate and the user may at any point use a �movie� feature to show an animation of the movement from initial to target states. This is helpful for visualizing overall component movement throughout the treatment process.
As described above, one suitable user interface for component identification is a three dimensional interactive graphical user interface (GUI). A three-dimensional GUI is also advantageous for component manipulation. Such an interface provides the treating professional or user with instant and visual interaction with the digital model components. The three-dimensional GUI provides advantages over interfaces that permit only simple low-level commands for directing the computer to manipulate a particular segment. In other words, a GUI adapted for manipulation is better in many ways than an interface that accepts directives, for example, only of the sort: �translate this component by 0.1 mm to the right.� Such low-level commands are useful for fine-tuning, but, if they were the sole interface, the processes of component manipulation would become a tiresome and time-consuming interaction.
FIG. 21 is a simplified block diagram of a data processing system 500. Data processing system 500 typically includes at least one processor 502 which communicates with a number of peripheral devices over bus subsystem 504. These peripheral devices typically include a storage subsystem 506 (memory subsystem 508 and file storage subsystem 514), a set of user interface input and output devices 518, and an interface to outside networks 516, including the public switched telephone network. This interface is shown schematically as �Modems and Network Interface� block 516, and is coupled to corresponding interface devices in other data processing systems over communication network interface 524. Data processing system 500 may include a terminal or a low end personal computer or a high end personal computer, workstation or mainframe.
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Orthod. 59:596-599, 1971.Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS8038444 *Aug 30, 2007Oct 18, 2011Align Technology, Inc.Automated treatment staging for teethUS8419430Apr 2, 2011Apr 16, 2013Yan PogorelskySystem and method for incrementally moving teethUS8491305Nov 5, 2009Jul 23, 2013Yan PogorelskySystem and method for aligning teethUS20090286196 *Jul 29, 2009Nov 19, 2009Align Technology, IncTreatment of teeth by alignersUS20100204816 *Jul 27, 2007Aug 12, 2010Vorum Research CorporationMethod, apparatus, media and signals for producing a representation of a mold* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification433/24, 433/213International ClassificationA61C7/00, A61C19/00, A61C9/00, A61C3/00Cooperative ClassificationA61C7/00, A61C7/002, A61C9/0053European ClassificationA61C7/00Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionMar 14, 2012FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services©2012 Google