Virtual Dental Model with Inter-Proximal Surface Reconstruction

The patent creates a digital 3D copy of the patient's dentition through scanning, which serves as a virtual replica for planning and visualization. This digital copy replaces physical models, enabling precise measurements and adjustments without consuming physical materials or requiring lengthy manufacturing processes. The digital model can be instantly modified and reviewed, eliminating the time-consuming cycle of creating and adjusting physical models.

The patent replaces the mechanical system of physical model fabrication with a digital computing system. Instead of manually creating and adjusting physical dental models through mechanical processes, the system uses computer-based 3D scanning, modeling, and visualization tools. This substitution dramatically reduces time consumption while maintaining or improving measurement precision through digital measurement capabilities.

The patent applies preliminary geometric transformations and virtual extensions to the scanned dental model to anticipate and compensate for missing surface information. By pre-calculating and virtually constructing the uncaptured inter-proximal and sub-gingival surfaces based on available data and anatomical knowledge, the system prepares a complete virtual model before actual restoration fabrication, ensuring no critical surface information is lost.

The patent introduces computational algorithms and geometric modeling techniques as intermediaries to bridge the gap between scanned surfaces and complete dental anatomy. These computational tools act as mediators that infer and construct missing surface data from partial scans, using mathematical relationships and anatomical constraints to generate accurate representations of uncaptured areas like inter-proximal and sub-gingival surfaces.