Clinician review of an orthodontic treatment plan and appliance

Abstract

A computer is used to create a plan for repositioning an orthodontic patient's teeth. The computer receives an initial digital data set representing the patient's teeth at their initial positions and a final digital data set representing the teeth at their final positions. The computer then uses the data sets to generate treatment paths along which teeth will move from the initial positions to the final positions.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for providing three dimensional models for use in orthodontics, the system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory, including instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the system to at least:
 receive feedback information on a suggested post-treatment arrangement of a patient's teeth, the feedback information generated based on a graphical representation of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement and including a repositioning of at least one of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement so as to produce a desired final arrangement of the patient's teeth; and 
 generate, based at least in part on the feedback information, a plurality of data sets representing successive planned intermediate arrangements of the patient's teeth in a planned repositioning of the patient's teeth to the desired final arrangement. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the suggested post-treatment arrangement is prepared by a first user and the feedback information is generated by a second user. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical representation comprises image data of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the feedback information is provided by a user who has interactively viewed the image data of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement so as to provide the feedback information. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the feedback information is generated based on graphical manipulation of the image data. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical representation corresponds to a digital data set of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement received by the system. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the graphical representation comprises an animation routine providing a series of images showing intermediate positions of the teeth along a treatment path from a first arrangement to the suggested post-treatment arrangement. 
     
     
         8 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the suggested post-treatment arrangement comprises suggested tooth positions and orientations prepared based on three-dimensional information of shapes of the patient's teeth. 
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the repositioning of the at least one of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement comprises a modification of one or more of a position or an orientation of the at least one of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to determine whether the modification is valid based on collision detection. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the feedback information comprises textual feedback. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the feedback information comprises information approving a position and orientation of at least one of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to display a revised graphical representation of the patient's teeth in the desired final arrangement produced based on the feedback information. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of data sets comprises a plurality of three-dimensional models representing the successive planned intermediate arrangements of the patient's teeth. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein at least one of the plurality of three-dimensional models is generated based on the feedback information. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of data sets comprises an initial data set that contains a three-dimensional representation of a group of teeth. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the initial data set is segmented into individual data sets representing each individual tooth in the group of teeth. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the system to:
 output instructions to a fabrication machine for generating shell appliances having teeth receiving cavities corresponding to the successive planned intermediate arrangements of the patient's teeth.   
     
     
         19 . A system for providing three dimensional models for use in orthodontics, the system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   memory, including instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the system to at least:
 receive feedback information on a suggested post-treatment arrangement of a patient's teeth, the feedback information generated based on a graphical representation of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement and including a repositioning of at least one of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement so as to produce a desired final arrangement of the patient's teeth; and 
 output, based at least in part on the feedback information, instructions to a fabrication machine for generating a plurality of shell appliances having teeth receiving cavities corresponding to successive planned intermediate arrangements of the patient's teeth in a planned repositioning of the patient's teeth to the desired final arrangement. 
   
     
     
         20 . One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having stored thereon executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to at least:
 receive feedback information on a suggested post-treatment arrangement of a patient's teeth, the feedback information generated based on a graphical representation of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement and including a repositioning of at least one of the patient's teeth in the suggested post-treatment arrangement so as to produce a desired final arrangement of the patient's teeth; and   generate, based at least in part on the feedback information, a plurality of data sets representing successive planned intermediate arrangements of the patient's teeth in a planned repositioning of the patient's teeth to the desired final arrangement.