Patent ID: 8639477

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for modeling a complete tooth of a patient to facilitate dental and/or orthodontic treatment comprising: generating a first set of digital data representing a clinical crown; generating a second set of digital data representing a plurality of digital tooth models of a particular tooth type each having a first parameterization; processing the second set of digital data to obtain a third set of digital data representing an average tooth model of the particular tooth type having a second parameterization which is less than the first parameterization and representing surfaces of the average tooth model with a mesh; fitting the third set of digital data to the first set of digital data to create a set of digital data representing an interim tooth model, wherein fitting the third set of digital data to the first set of digital data comprises: a) sampling points on a surface represented in one of the first set or the third set of digital data; b) forming point pairs, each point pair including a respective sampled point in the one of the first set or the third set of digital data and a corresponding point in an other of the first set or the third set of digital data, by projecting the sampled points from the one of the first set or the third set of digital data to an other of the third set or the first set of digital data; c) transforming the point pairs to bring the first set and the third set of digital data together; and repeating steps a), b), and c), wherein a subsequent repetition of steps a), b), and c) includes sampling a same sampled point from a previous iteration, using one of the transformed point pairs as an initial approximation for a projection of the same sampled point, and finding a nearest point on a face containing the one of the transformed point pairs rather than finding a true projection of the same sampled point; and morphing the set of digital data representing the interim tooth model to substantially mimic the anatomical shape of the clinical crown of the first set of digital data.