Patent ID: 7987099

Claim:
A computer implemented method, comprising: storing in a database data related to each of a plurality of dental patient treatment histories, each including: an initial data set representing teeth of each dental patient prior to treatment; an intended dental treatment outcome data set for each dental patient; and an actual dental treatment outcome data set for each dental patient; a computer clustering the data into clusters based on at least one of a number of parameters including initial physical dental condition, initial diagnoses, dental treatment parameters, intended dental treatment outcomes, actual dental treatment outcomes, appliance design, manufacturing protocol, clinician, clinician geography, clinician training, size and nature of clinician's practice, and patient demographics; the computer modeling discrepancies between the intended dental treatment outcome data sets and the actual dental treatment outcome data sets within a particular cluster; the computer correlating the modeled discrepancies to one or more of treatment approach, appliance design, and manufacturing protocol within the particular cluster; and the computer providing the correlation as feedback for optimizing the one or more of initial physical dental condition, initial diagnoses, dental treatment parameters, intended dental treatment outcomes, actual dental treatment outcomes, appliance design, manufacturing protocol, clinician, clinician geography, clinician training, size and nature of clinician's practice, and patient demographics.