Mixed Reality Dental Guide for Precise Bracket Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
The challenges of accurately positioning dental apparatus such as brackets on a patient's teeth are exacerbated by tooth visibility and accessibility issues, particularly in cases of severe crowding, and manual placement methods suffer from imprecision and lengthy placement times, while indirect bonding methods face alignment difficulties with flexible facial features and limited field of view.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing a mixed reality device and a physical guide with stabilizing pieces and guiding pieces, combined with computer programs for scanning, rendering, and superimposing virtual dental treatment templates, ensures precise alignment by identifying feature points and maintaining congruency between virtual and physical guides, enabling accurate placement of dental apparatus.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If naked eye approximation by practitioner via measuring tool is used for bracket placement, then the placement process is simple and quick, but the accuracy is limited to about +/â0.5 millimeters
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a digital 3D copy of the patient's dental arch through scanning, and then places virtual brackets on this digital model with high precision. This virtual placement can be done accurately without physical manipulation, and the verified placement is then transferred to the actual patient's teeth, achieving high accuracy while keeping the physical placement process simple
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the traditional mechanical measuring tools and manual placement methods with a digital system using 3D scanning, virtual reality visualization, and computer-aided design. This substitution of mechanical systems with digital systems enables much higher precision in measuring tooth positions and determining bracket placement locations
2Measurement precision
If indirect bonding with dental template is used to improve placement accuracy, then bracket placement accuracy improves, but the placement time increases and patient restlessness increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs all measurements, 3D scanning, virtual bracket placement, and verification in advance on a digital model before the actual placement procedure. The optimal bracket positions are determined beforehand with high precision, and during the actual placement, the practitioner simply follows the pre-determined digital guide, significantly reducing the time the patient needs to remain still
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses a digital 3D copy of the patient's dental arch to perform all planning and placement verification work. This virtual model allows for repeated adjustments and verifications without affecting the actual patient, and the final verified placement plan is then transferred to the physical patient, reducing the time required for trial-and-error adjustments
3Manufacturing precision
If dental template is used for indirect bonding, then bracket alignment accuracy improves, but the template may not align properly due to flexible facial features and limited field of view
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the physical dental template alignment process with a digital alignment system. The 3D scanned model provides a stable, non-flexible digital reference that can be precisely aligned and measured. Virtual brackets placed on this digital model maintain their positions accurately, eliminating the alignment problems caused by flexible facial features and limited field of view that affect physical templates
Solution Approach 2:
The patent moves the alignment process from the physical 3D space with limited field of view to a virtual 3D space accessible from any angle. The digital 3D model allows the practitioner to view and verify bracket alignment from multiple perspectives and dimensions that are not constrained by the physical limitations of facial features or line-of-sight, ensuring reliable alignment verification
4Measurement precision
If manual bracket placement is performed on each tooth, then the practitioner can directly adjust each bracket, but the process is time-consuming and accuracy is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent places virtual brackets on a digital 3D model of the patient's dental arch, allowing for precise positioning of each bracket without physical manipulation. Once the virtual placement is verified as accurate, the same bracket positions are transferred to the actual patient's teeth. This copying approach from virtual to physical achieves high precision while dramatically improving efficiency by eliminating repeated manual measurement and adjustment for each bracket
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs all bracket placement planning and verification in advance on the digital model, determining the optimal position for each bracket before the actual placement procedure. This preliminary digital planning allows for high-precision positioning of all brackets, and the actual physical placement simply follows the pre-determined plan, significantly improving productivity while maintaining high accuracy
Data Source
AI summary
Dental treatment can be provided by a system that overlays a treatment template on a patient's arch in mixed reality, enabling a practitioner to view a schematic of the dental treatment while administering the treatment itself. The system employs a physical guide which includes stabilizing pieces to hold the guide steady with respect to the area of the arch where treatment is being administered. When the physical guide is scanned, a virtual guide is produced, in relation to which the treatment template can be defined. When the physical guide is installed on the patient, the virtual guide is aligned with the physical guide, thus aligning the template with the physical arch. With the physical guide firmly in place, the guides provide abundant feature points for reliable alignment which can be maintained even while practitioners and patient's readjust their positioning throughout a treatment, or in situations where the oral anatomy may not be visible to a mixed reality device.