Intraoral Scanner Hinge Axis Calculation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional methods for mounting a virtual articulator in dentistry require additional chair-side time and may introduce errors, as they often rely on conventional facebows and scanners that are not readily available in all dental clinics or labs, complicating the transfer of anatomical and occlusal relationships.
Innovation Solution
The use of an intraoral scanner and computer processing system to generate 3-D models of upper and lower jaw teeth and gums, align them to create a composite model, calculate the hinge axis position, and mount the 3-D dental impression on a virtual articulator, eliminating the need for conventional facebows and scanners.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If conventional facebow and scanner methods are used to mount a virtual articulator, then anatomical and occlusal relationships can be transferred, but additional chair-side time is required and errors may be introduced
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the conventional facebow and scanner from the mounting process. Instead of using these separate devices to transfer anatomical relationships, the system directly captures 3-D oral cavity data including hinge axis position and condylar guide inclination through intraoral scanning, thereby removing the time-consuming intermediate steps while maintaining transfer accuracy
Solution Approach 2:
The intraoral scanner is made multi-functional by enabling it to capture not only standard dental impressions but also hinge axis position and condylar guide inclination data during the same scanning process. This eliminates the need for separate facebow procedures, reducing chair-side time while ensuring accurate transfer of all necessary anatomical relationships
2Ease of manufacture
If conventional facebow and articulator equipment are used, then mounting can be performed, but the equipment is not readily available in all dental clinics or labs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention makes the intraoral scanner universal by programming it to extract hinge axis position and condylar guide inclination in addition to standard dental data. This eliminates the need for specialized facebow and articulator equipment, making the mounting process accessible in any clinic with a standard intraoral scanner
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical facebow and articulator system with a digital computational approach. Instead of physical mounting devices, the system uses computer algorithms to calculate hinge axis position and condylar guide inclination from 3-D scan data, substituting complex mechanical equipment with accessible computational tools
3Reliability
If conventional mounting procedures are used, then anatomical relationships can be transferred, but extra steps are required that may introduce errors
Solution Approach 1:
The invention merges multiple separate procedures into a single integrated workflow. The intraoral scanner simultaneously captures dental impressions, hinge axis position, and condylar guide inclination in one process, eliminating the need for separate facebow procedures and reducing the number of steps where errors could occur
Solution Approach 2:
The invention performs preliminary capture of all necessary anatomical data including hinge axis position and condylar guide inclination during the initial intraoral scanning phase. This preliminary action ensures all mounting information is obtained before leaving the clinical setting, eliminating subsequent transfer steps that could introduce errors
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention relates to methods and systems for generating a 3-D dental impression with a corresponding hinge axis position and, in certain embodiments, a condylar guide inclination. In some embodiments, an intraoral scanner and a computer processing system are employed to: i) generate upper and lower jaw models, and first and second occlusal 3-D models with different mouth openings (MOs) or functional positions (FPs), ii) align the models to generate a composite 3-D model, iii) calculate a hinge axis position from the composite 3-D model based on the difference in said MOs or FPs, and iv) mount the 3-D dental impression on a virtual articulator (VA) by aligning the hinge axis position to the hinge axis position of the VA.