Dental Arch Model CNC Manufacturing via Digital Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing methods for creating physical dental arch models are labor-intensive, time-consuming, and difficult to machine accurately due to the complex shapes and features of dental arches, leading to inefficiencies and variations in orthodontic treatment quality.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the creation of a three-dimensional digital dental arch model, smoothing, segmentation into manufacturable components, and using Computer Numerical Control (CNC) manufacturing to produce and assemble physical components, which can be easily assembled into a precise physical dental arch model.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual methods are used for orthodontic treatment planning and appliance fabrication, then flexibility and adaptability are maintained, but accuracy and precision deteriorate due to human limitations in visualizing and manipulating three-dimensional structures
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates physical three-dimensional copies (models) of the patient's dental arch and desired final structure. These physical models allow the orthodontist to manipulate and visualize the treatment plan tangibly, overcoming the limitations of mental imaging and two-dimensional representations while maintaining treatment flexibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention divides the complex three-dimensional treatment planning process into manageable steps: creating the initial arch model, creating the final arch model, and using these segmented physical representations to plan and execute specific appliance fabrication tasks with high precision.
2Adaptability or versatility
If iterative manual adjustments are made to achieve desired orthodontic structure, then adaptability is maintained, but treatment time and patient discomfort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables preliminary action by allowing the orthodontist to create and manipulate physical models of the desired final dental structure before actual treatment begins. Treatment appliances can be fabricated based on these pre-planned physical models, eliminating the need for multiple iterative wire changes and reducing overall treatment time.
Solution Approach 2:
The physical arch models serve as intermediaries between the patient's current dental structure and the desired final structure. These tangible models allow for accurate treatment planning and appliance fabrication, reducing the need for repeated adjustments and wire changes while maintaining adaptability.
3Productivity
If standardized manufacturing methods are used for dental models, then productivity and consistency improve, but manufacturing precision may deteriorate due to limitations in capturing complex three-dimensional features
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional manual mechanical modeling methods with automated 3D scanning and digital model fabrication technologies. This substitution enables standardized, efficient manufacturing processes while maintaining or improving the precision of three-dimensional dental structure representation through computer-controlled fabrication.
Data Source
AI summary
A method produces a physical dental arch model based on a three-dimensional (3D) digital dental arch model. The method includes smoothening the digital dental arch model to make the digital dental arch model suitable for CNC based manufacturing, segmenting the digital dental arch model into at least two manufacturable digital components, producing manufacturable physical components using Computer Numerical Control (CNC) based manufacturing in accordance with the manufacturable digital components, and assembling the manufacturable physical components to form the physical dental arch model.