Automatic Dental Arch Mapping System for Patient-Specific Dentition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional dental arch maps are not adaptable to individual patient conditions, such as poor alignment, missing teeth, or supernumerary teeth, leading to inaccuracies and complications in diagnostic assessment and treatment planning.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus for automatically generating a 2D dental arch map from 3D tooth contour information, which includes acquiring a 3D surface image, segmenting the image to identify individual teeth, defining tooth contours, and labeling them according to a designated numbering scheme, allowing for accurate representation of each patient's dentition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a standard dental arch map is used for all patients, then the mapping arrangement is consistent and easy to use, but it becomes incorrect or confusing for individual patients with conditions such as poor alignment, missing teeth, or supernumerary teeth
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic adaptation of the dental arch map by detecting individual patient conditions (such as missing teeth, supernumerary teeth, poor alignment) and automatically adjusting the tooth numbering and mapping arrangement to match the patient's actual dentition, transforming a static standard map into a dynamic personalized one
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-service by automatically detecting patient-specific dental conditions and generating appropriate personalized mappings without requiring manual intervention from practitioners to reconfigure the mapping for each patient
2Measurement precision
If manual methods are used to assign tooth numbers and create personalized dental arch maps, then accuracy for individual patients is improved, but time consumption and labor intensity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the manual mechanical process of visual inspection and hand-drawn mapping with an automated image processing system that uses computer vision algorithms to detect tooth positions, identify individual teeth, and generate numbered mappings automatically
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates accurate digital copies of the patient's actual dentition from scanned images and uses these copies to generate the personalized mapping, eliminating the need for manual reproduction of tooth arrangements
3Loss of information
If conventional dental imaging methods are used, then the imaging process is simple, but the ability to accurately represent unique tooth arrangements and support personalized treatment planning is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transitions from conventional 2D dental images to 3D scanned images, adding a dimensional aspect that enables more accurate representation of tooth positions, orientations, and spatial relationships, thereby capturing complete information about individual tooth arrangements
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the dental arch into individual tooth components by automatically identifying and separating each tooth in the scanned image, allowing for precise detection of tooth boundaries, positions, and characteristics that would be lost in conventional imaging
Data Source
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AI summary
Method for automatically assigning numeric labels to teeth in a dental arch map provides a segmented 3D surface image of patient dentition having identified individual teeth and determined tooth position in the dental arch. A tooth contour for the identified teeth is defined. The tooth type is identified as one of incisor, canine, premolar, or molar. A display of the tooth contour is labeled with an assigned tooth number according to the tooth position, tooth contour, and tooth type. The labeled mapping is displayed.