Digital Dental Component Design via Jaw Motion Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for designing dental restorations and orthodontic appliances often fail to accurately simulate patient-specific jaw articulation, leading to potential discomfort, pain, and restoration failure due to incorrect bite function, and existing digital tools are either time-consuming or expensive to set up.
Innovation Solution
A method using intra-oral scanners to obtain 3D representations of the patient's jaws in different bite configurations, aligning these to determine the occlusal contact movement, and designing dental components based on this movement to maintain proper occlusal contact and function.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If electronic facebows are used to detect jaw motion, then measurement precision is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses 3D digital copies of the patient's jaws obtained from intra-oral scanners to simulate and analyze jaw motion. Instead of using complex electronic facebows to directly detect motion, the system creates virtual models (copies) of the jaw structures and digitally determines motion through alignment sequences of these copies, thereby reducing device complexity while maintaining measurement precision
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces mechanical/electronic detection systems (electronic facebows using ultrasound) with a digital imaging and computation system. The intra-oral scanner captures 3D representations, and computer algorithms automatically determine jaw motion through alignment sequences, substituting complex mechanical measurement devices with digital tools that are easier to implement and less expensive
2Manufacturing precision
If virtual articulators are used to simulate articulation, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary digital acquisition of 3D jaw representations and alignment sequences before the actual restoration design. By pre-processing the jaw models and determining the alignment sequence in advance, the system simplifies the overall workflow and reduces the complexity of subsequent articulation simulation, as the foundational data is already prepared and organized
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts and focuses on the essential information needed for articulation simulation - the alignment sequence of bite configurations - rather than using complete complex virtual articulator systems. By isolating and utilizing only the critical alignment data from the 3D representations, the system achieves sufficient manufacturing precision while reducing device and software complexity
3Ease of operation
If manual articulation simulation is used, then ease of operation is improved, but productivity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables the patient's own jaw motion to be captured and utilized directly for the restoration design. By using the patient's actual bite configurations and occlusal contact movement recorded during their natural jaw motion, the system eliminates the need for extensive manual articulation simulation by the dentist, thereby increasing productivity while maintaining ease of operation through automated processing of the patient's own anatomical data
Data Source
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AI summary
Disclosed is a method of digitally designing a dental component for a patient, wherein the method comprises: - obtaining a 3D representation of the patient's upper jaw; - obtaining a 3D representation of the patient's lower jaw; - obtaining at least a first 3D representation of a first bite configuration of the patient's jaws in a first occlusion and a second 3D representation of a second bite configuration of the patient's jaws in a second occlusion different from the first occlusion; - digitally determining a occlusal contact movement of the patient's jaws relative to each other based on the at least first 3D representation, the second 3D representation and contact between the patient's upper jaw and lower jaw; and - digitally designing the dental component based on the occlusal contact movement of the patient's jaw relative to each other.