Dynamic virtual articulator

Abstract

Disclosed is a computer-implemented method of using a dynamic virtual articulator for simulating occlusion of teeth, when performing computer-aided designing of one or more dental restorations for a patient, where the method comprises the steps of:

providing the virtual articulator comprising a virtual three-dimensional model of the upper jaw and a virtual three-dimensional model of the lower jaw resembling the upper jaw and lower jaw, respectively, of the patient's mouth;

providing movement of the virtual upper jaw and the virtual lower jaw relative to each other for simulating dynamic occlusion, whereby collisions between teeth in the virtual upper and virtual lower jaw occur;

wherein the method further comprises:

providing that the teeth in the virtual upper jaw and virtual lower jaw are blocked from penetrating each other's virtual surfaces in the collisions.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]This invention generally relates to a virtual articulator and to a method of performing virtual articulation. More particularly, the invention relates to a computer-implemented method of using a dynamic virtual articulator for simulating occlusion of teeth, when performing computer-aided designing of one or more dental restorations.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]An articulator is a mechanical device which provides a simplified geometrical model of the cranium for simulating the relative movements of the human jaws for testing occlusion of teeth. An articulator is used by a dental technician when modelling dental restorations for a patient, and the dental technician may alternate between modelling the restorations and evaluating the function of the bite or occlusion using the articulator. For testing collision of teeth in the upper and lower jaw, the dental technician can use carbon copy paper placed between the teeth of the two jaws in the articulator, ...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0272]It is an advantage that the teeth models in the virtual articulator can be held in an open position because for some orthodontic cases appliances should be designed which keeps the upper and lower jaw in an open position with a distance to each other such that the bite can be remodelled. When keeping the models in an open position in the virtu

Problems solved by technology

It remains a problem to provide a virtual articulator which imitates and resembles an articulator in an improved manner.

However, it may alternatively be the case that when a restoration and an unmodified tooth are simulated relative to each other, the motion surface of the restoration may penetrate the unmodified tooth.

Thus no movement, no accumulated registration of collision point surfaces and no possibility to perform a concurrent mo

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