1031results about "Tooth crowns" patented technology

Solid free form fabrication techniques can be utilized indirectly to manufacture substrates, dies, models, near-net shapes, shells, and wax-ups that are then used in the manufacture of dental articles. Digital light processing is the most preferred indirect method for the production of substrates. After the substrates are produced, various coating or deposition techniques such as gel casting, slip casting, slurry casting, pressure infiltration, dipping, colloidal spray deposition or electrophoretic deposition are used to manufacture the dental article.

The systems and methods disclosed herein provide visual feedback concerning one or more scanning parameters to a user during acquisition of a three dimensional scan.

A system and a method for automating a medical process including a memory storing a software program, a computer connected to the memory for running the software program, a display connected to the computer for generating a visual representation of output data generated by the computer running the program, a user interface connected to the computer for obtaining image data representing a configuration of a patient treatment space and fixed markers in the treatment space and storing the image data in the memory, a robot arm connected to the computer, and a medical tool mounted on the robot arm wherein when a human inputs a selected treatment procedure into the computer, the computer runs the software program to generate a tool path based upon the treatment procedure and the image data, and the computer operates the robot arm to move the medical tool along the tool path without human guidance, and wherein the data generated during the treatment procedure is stored, analyzed, and shared among collaborating computer systems.

The present invention relates generally to mill blank constructions to facilitate the manufacture of dental restorations. A given mill blank is formed in a shape (i.e. with a given geometry) that has been predetermined to reduce material waste when the mill blank is machined into the final part. A set of two or more blanks each having such characteristics comprise a smart blank “library.” In one embodiment, a smart blank library includes a sufficient number of unique blanks such that, when the geometry of the designed restoration is known, the smart blank with a highest yield can be selected for use in milling the restoration. The “yield” of a given smart blank represents the amount of material of the smart blank that is actually used in the final restoration. Automated processes for smart blank inventory management and smart blank selection are also described.

Tools are described for preparing digital dental models for use in dental restoration production processes, along with associated systems and methods. Dental modeling is improved by supplementing views of three-dimensional models with still images of the modeled subject matter. Video data acquired during a scan of the model provides a source of still images that can be displayed alongside a rendered three-dimensional model, and the two views (model and still image) may be synchronized to provide a common perspective of the model's subject matter. This approach provides useful visual information for disambiguating surface features of the model during processing steps such as marking a margin of a prepared tooth surface for a restoration. Interactive modeling tools may be similarly enhanced. For example, tools for margin marking may synchronize display of margin lines between the still image and the model so that a user can interact with either or both of the visual representations, with changes to a margin reflected in both displays.

A preparation (10, 11,12,13) to be fixed to a natural tooth part or tooth, in particular for the replacement of a load-bearing tooth part, is for example a filling for a drilled-out tooth (1), a crown, bridge or prosthesis to be placed on a tooth stub, or a tooth pin to be fixed in a tooth root for fastening an artificial tooth, a bridge or a prosthesis. The preparation has surface regions which consist of a material with thermoplastic properties. The preparation (10, 11, 12,13) is designed in a manner such that it has oscillation properties with such low damping losses that for a liquefaction of the material with thermoplastic properties by way of oscillations there are local stress concentrations required, and in a manner such that such stress concentrations only occur in the region of the preparation surface. The preparation is positioned on a suitably prepared natural tooth part in a manner such that the material with the thermoplastic properties is in contact or may be brought into contact with the dentin surface and/or enamel surface. The preparation is then made to mechanically oscillate and is simultaneously pressed against the natural tooth part, whereby the material with the thermoplastic properties is at least partly liquefied and brought into intimate contact with the dentin or enamel surface in a manner such that after solidification it forms a positive fit and/or material fit connection. Teeth restored with such preparations have a high stability and a long life, which in particular is attributed to the fact that the thermoplastic material, in contrast to cements used for the same purpose, shrinks less and has the ability to relieve internal stress by creeping.

A 3D virtual model of an intra oral cavity in which at least a part of a finish line of a preparation is obscured is manipulated in virtual space by means of a computer or the like to create, recreate or reconstruct finish line data and other geometrical corresponding to the obscured part. Trimmed virtual models, and trimmed physical models, can then be created utilizing data thus created. The virtual models and/or the physical models may be used in the design and manufacture of copings or of prostheses.

The invention provides a digital dentistry system that utilizes a haptic interface and features a computer-based design application configured to allow the intuitive construction of irregular, amorphous three-dimensional structures typically seen in dental restorations, utilizing, where appropriate, the design skills of a user. In certain embodiments, the system provides a comprehensive digital solution for dental labs in the business of creating dental restorations such as partial frameworks, crowns, copings, bridge frameworks, implants and the like, with a sense of touch provided by a haptic interface device.

Systems and methods are provided for modifying a virtual model of a physical structure with additional 3D data obtained from the physical structure to provide a modified virtual model.

A system and method for producing a dental fixture are provided. A laser digitizer imaging system creates a visual three-dimensional image of a dental item such as a tooth or a dental impression. The three-dimensional image may be displayed and the size and shape of the image may be selectively modified by the user of the system. Digital data associated with the three-dimensional image of the dental item is sent to an implant production device. A dental implant is produced in response to receipt of the data associated with the three-dimensional image such that the implant is insertable into a socket of the jawbone from where a tooth was extracted.

Disclosed is a method of designing a dental restoration for a patient, wherein the method includes providing one or more 2D images, where at least one 2D image includes at least one facial feature; providing a 3D virtual model of at least part of the patient's oral cavity; arranging at least one of the one or more 2D images relative to the 3D virtual model in a virtual 3D space such that the 2D image and the 3D virtual model are aligned when viewed from a viewpoint, whereby the 3D virtual model and the 2D image are both visualized in the 3D space; and modeling a restoration on the 3D virtual model, where the restoration is designed to fit the facial feature of the at least one 2D image.

The invention relates to a process, a blank, an assortment of blanks, a tooth database, and a database of blanks, for the production of a dental prosthetic item. The method comprises the provision of a 3D model of a dental prosthetic item and the selection of a suitable blank from a plurality of possible blanks. The provision of the 3D model of the dental prosthetic item comprises the determination of an esthetically relevant designed subregion of the 3D model of the dental prosthetic item as part of an exterior surface of said dental prosthetic item, and a blank is specified from a plurality of blanks having a prefabricated esthetically relevant terminal subsurface of a surface of the tooth, the terminal subsurface of said blank being such that it at least approximates the thus specified designed subregion. The 3D model of said dental prosthetic item is carved from the selected blank such that the prefabricated terminal subsurface of said blank remains unmachined in at least a central region thereof.

Disclosed is a method for planning, visualizing, and/or optimizing dental restoration on at least a part of the pre-prepared teeth of a patient, wherein said method comprises the steps of:

• • providing at least one 3D digital model of at least a part of the pre-prepared teeth;
  • designing at least one dental restoration CAD model based on the 3D digital model of at least a part of the pre-prepared teeth;
  • providing at least one 3D digital model of at least a part of the prepared teeth, where the prepared teeth are provided by preparing the pre-prepared teeth by dental restorative work, at least partly based on the dental restoration CAD model; and
  • aligning the 3D models of the pre-prepared and the prepared teeth.

A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture is disclosed for providing a dental crowns using electronic models, and more particularly to a method, apparatus, and article of manufacture for creating dental crowns using a lost-wax manufacturing process from electronic model files corresponding to patient teeth impressions and corresponding electronic models for tooth crowns. The system and method permit the electronic generation and specification of crown, bridge, and implant dental appliances that may be specified in an industry standard file specification. This specification is utilized in a rapid prototyping process to generate a wax impression for the appliance that may then be fabricated using standard lost-wax fabrication techniques.

Dental crown forms and methods of using them are disclosed. The dental crown forms may include one or more of the following features: a handle attached to the dental crown form at a location removed from the base of the dental crown form; a vented handle through which excess amounts of hardenable dental material can pass during placement of the crown form; and one or more lines of weakness that may be separated to remove a dental crown form from hardenable dental material after placement of the filled crown form. The dental crown forms may also be located in packages with hardenable dental material located within the dental crown forms as packaged.

A method for the production of replacement teeth (5) from a three-dimensionally determined and digitized model, whereby for improved handling, cost and quality of the produced replacement tooth (5) a method including the following steps is carried out: inputting the data for the digitized model, treating the inner surface (9) of the surface model with a given offset value to generate a cement gap (7, 8) between the tooth replacement (5) to be made and tooth stump (1, 2) and calculation of a program for machining the blank or a mold by means of a machine tool.

Lithium silicate glass ceramics and glasses are described which can advantageously be applied to zirconium oxide ceramics in particular by pressing-on in the viscous state and form a solid bond with these.

A dental article is fabricated from an SMC material using three-dimensional data captured from natural dentition to guide a computer-controlled milling machine. The three-dimensional data may include scans of an original tooth structure and a prepared tooth surface to characterize all surfaces of a dental article, or certain features may be created within a computer-assisted design environment taking account of occlusion, proximal contacts, and the like. In addition the model applied to a computer-controlled milling machine may account for shrinkage of the SMC material during any post-milling curing steps in order to ensure an accurate fit to the prepared tooth surface.