Dental Prosthesis Quality Control via Digital Model Comparison
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current quality control methods for dental prostheses are inadequate as they rely on manual visual inspection, which is ineffective in detecting manufacturing defects such as improper size and milling errors, and cannot quantify these defects for corrective actions.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for automatically identifying and quantifying manufacturing defects in dental prostheses by generating a differences model through comparing a design model and a scanned model, and using statistical analysis to determine if the prosthesis is defective based on standard deviation and distribution of offset values.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual visual inspection is used for quality control, then the inspection process is simple and requires minimal equipment, but the detection accuracy is insufficient and cannot identify subtle manufacturing defects
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital copy (3D scanned model) of the physical dental prosthesis and compares it against the original design model. This digital copying approach enables precise measurement of dimensional deviations without requiring complex physical measurement equipment, directly resolving the contradiction between detection accuracy and system complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces manual visual inspection (mechanical/human system) with an automated computer-based comparison system that uses 3D scanning and digital model analysis. This substitution provides objective, quantifiable defect detection while maintaining relative simplicity through software-based processing
2Loss of information
If manual inspection is performed, then the inspection method is easy to implement, but the ability to quantify defects is virtually impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a digital 3D model as an intermediary between the physical prosthesis and the inspection process. By comparing the scanned digital model against the design model, the system automatically calculates and quantifies dimensional deviations, preserving defect information while requiring minimal manual intervention
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the comparison between scanned and design models generates quantitative deviation data. This feedback provides measurable defect information that can be used to assess quality and guide corrective actions, transforming subjective visual inspection into objective data-driven analysis
3Reliability
If visual inspection by trained personnel is used, then the inspection process requires minimal equipment, but the detection of subtle defects like steps and size variations is extremely difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary scanning to create a complete 3D digital model of the prosthesis before inspection. This preliminary action captures all surface geometry information, enabling subsequent automated detection of subtle defects that would be imperceptible to human inspectors, thereby improving reliability without increasing measurement difficulty
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are example embodiments of methods and systems for identifying and quantifying manufacturing defects of a manufactured dental prosthesis. Certain embodiments of the system for performing quality control on manufactured dental prostheses includes: a quality control module configured to determine whether the dental prosthesis is a good or a defective product based at least on a differences model generated by comparing a design model and a scanned model of the manufactured dental prosthesis.