Virtually testing force placed on a tooth

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure include computing device related, system, and method embodiments for virtually testing force placed on a tooth are described herein. One method embodiment includes receiving initial orthodontic data (IOD) of teeth, and receiving a desired position of a tooth contained in the IOD. The method embodiment can also include computing a desired force and torque to be applied to the tooth to reach the desired position, wherein the force and torque are applied using a dental attachment. The method embodiment can include virtually testing and adjusting the attachment iteratively to reach the desired force and torque, and displaying the force and torque applied to the tooth via a user interface.

1 . A computing device implemented method of virtually testing force placed on a tooth, comprising:
 receiving initial orthodontic data (IOD) including tooth data;   receiving a desired position of a tooth contained in the IOD;   computing at least one of a desired force and torque to be applied to the tooth to reach the desired position, wherein the at least one of the force and torque are applied using a dental attachment;   virtually testing and adjusting the attachment iteratively to reach at least one of the desired force and torque; and   displaying the at least one of the force and torque applied to the tooth via a user interface.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein virtually testing and adjusting the attachment includes virtually testing and adjusting the attachment iteratively to reach at least one of the desired force and torque for moving the tooth from an initial position to the desired position. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , where anchoring of a tooth is desired virtually testing and adjusting the attachment includes virtually testing and adjusting the attachment iteratively to reach at least one of the desired force and torque for maintaining the tooth in an initial position and a desired position that are the same. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the IOD includes at least one of a gum structure and a mouth bone structure. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the attachment is chosen to perform a particular movement with respect to the tooth positioning in the IOD due to a particular malocclusion of the tooth. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the attachment is virtually created for testing based on the computed at least one desired force and torque. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising calculating a center of mass for the tooth and associating the at least one of the desired force and torque with the center of mass. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising calculating a center of resistance of the tooth based on the center of mass and associating the desired force with the center of resistance. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining an actual force generated by the attachment. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising identifying a possible placement area for the placement of the attachment on the tooth based on the actual force generated by the attachment. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7 , further comprising comparing the desired force to the actual force and presenting the results on the user interface. 
     
     
         12 . A system for virtually testing force placed on a tooth, comprising:
 initial orthodontic data (IOD) including tooth data of a patient;   a target virtual dental model of a tooth in the IOD;   a computation module configured to compute at least one of a desired position, a desired orientation, and a desired relative magnitude of point contact force of an attachment to achieve the target virtual dental model of the tooth;   a creation module configured to virtually create the attachment;   a verification module configured to test the virtually created attachment and verify that the virtually created attachment has the at least one desired position, the desired orientation, and the desired relative magnitude of point contact force; and   a display module configured to display the virtually created attachment and the point contact force.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the desired position, desired orientation, and desired relative magnitude of the point contact force are recomputed with a new constraint if the attachment is not verified. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the displayed relative magnitude of point contact force is present on the user interface as force and torque vector arrows showing a direction and magnitude of a desired force and a desired torque. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the system includes a library of tooth shapes and treatment plan data, attachment shapes, data regarding mounting materials, and data regarding aligner characteristics and tooth and mouth structures. 
     
     
         16 . A non-transitory computing device readable medium having executable instructions that can be executed by a processor to cause a computing device to perform a method of virtually testing force placed on a tooth, comprising:
 receiving initial orthodontic data (IOD) including tooth data;   identifying a desired position of a tooth contained in the IOD;   computing at least one of a desired force and torque to be applied to the tooth to reach the desired position;   creating a physical feature to deliver the at least one of the desired force and torque to the tooth;   computing at least one of an actual force and torque applied to the tooth by the physical feature;   determining an area on the tooth where the physical feature can be positioned;   displaying the at least one of the desired force and desired torque via a user interface;   displaying the at least one of the actual force and torque applied to the tooth by the physical feature via a user interface;   comparing the at least one of the desired force and torque to the actual force and torque; and   virtually testing and adjusting the physical feature iteratively within the area to reach at least one of the desired force and torque.   
     
     
         17 . The medium of  claim 16 , wherein creating the physical feature includes at least one of creating an aligner and creating a dimple for the tooth. 
     
     
         18 . The medium of  claim 16 , wherein the physical feature is editable by a user. 
     
     
         19 . The medium of  claim 16 , wherein the executable instructions can be executed by the processor to cause the computing device to perform the method further comprising recreating the physical feature with a different shape if the attachment is not verified. 
     
     
         20 . The medium of  claim 16 , wherein the executable instructions can be executed by the processor to cause the computing device to perform the method further comprising recalculating the actual force after the desired force and actual force comparison and displaying the recalculated actual force via the user interface to show a revised force and torque delivered by the adjusted physical feature.