Patent ID: 7585172

Claim:
An apparatus for adjusting orthodontic treatment for an orthodontic patient already undergoing orthodontic treatment, wherein said orthodontic patient has brackets attached to the patient's teeth, and wherein an archwire is placed on the brackets, comprising: a scanning system for scanning the dentition of the patient including brackets; a workstation having a processing unit, a memory and a display; and software stored in said memory and executable by said processing unit for processing captured images from said scanning system and converting said captured images into a current virtual three-dimensional model of teeth having brackets placed on the surface of the teeth of the patient; said memory storing said current virtual three-dimensional model; said memory further storing an original virtual three-dimensional model of the patient's teeth in malocclusion; said software further executable by said processing unit to overlay said original virtual three-dimensional model on said current virtual three-dimensional model; display the superimposed virtual three-dimensional model on said display; said software further enabling the user in quantifying precisely the amount of movement of said teeth of the patient, thereby enabling adjusting orthodontic treatment for said orthodontic patient already undergoing orthodontic treatment.