Prosthodontic and orthodontic apparatus and methods

Abstract

System and method for developing a treatment plan for achieving a treatment goal including creating a virtual model of a dental patient's dentition; transforming the virtual model of the dentition using virtual prosthodontics to facilitate achievement of the treatment goal; transforming the virtual model of the dentition using virtual orthodontics to facilitate achievement of the treatment goal; iterating on the transforming steps until substantially achieving the treatment goal; and generating an orthodontic treatment plan and a prosthodontic treatment plan based upon the substantially achieved treatment goal

1 . A method of planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition, the method comprising:
 generating a prosthodontic treatment plan based on a virtual model of the patient's dentition;   generating an orthodontic treatment plan based on the virtual model of the patient's dentition, the orthodontic treatment plan including a plurality of tooth movement steps to move one or more teeth of the patient's dentition from a beginning configuration to a plurality of intermediate configurations, each intermediate configuration includes a tooth model geometry for one or more teeth of the patient's dentition;   determining a change in tooth volume geometry at the plurality of intermediate configurations;   generating a visualization of the change in tooth volume geometry at the plurality of intermediate configurations;   displaying the visualization.   
     
     
         2 . The method of planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition of  claim 1 , wherein generating the visualization of the tooth volume geometry includes generating an overlay. 
     
     
         3 . The method of planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition of  claim 1 , wherein generating the visualization of the tooth volume geometry includes superimposing a modified tooth volume geometry with an unmodified tooth volume geometry. 
     
     
         4 . The method of planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition of  claim 1 , wherein generating the visualization of the tooth volume geometry includes superimposing a modified tooth volume geometry over an unmodified tooth volume geometry. 
     
     
         5 . The method of planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition of  claim 1 , wherein generating the visualization of the tooth volume geometry includes generating a prosthodontic geometry on the tooth volume geometry. 
     
     
         6 . The method of planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition of  claim 1 , wherein generating the visualization of the tooth volume geometry includes generating a visualization of material removal geometry. 
     
     
         7 . The method of planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition of  claim 1 , wherein generating the visualization of the tooth volume geometry includes generating a visualization of material addition geometry. 
     
     
         8 . The method of planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 setting a first of the plurality of intermediate configurations to begin prosthodontic treatment, the first of the plurality of intermediate configurations satisfying a constraint on the restorative parameter; and   fabricating at least one of:
 a series of orthodontic aligners based on the orthodontic treatment plan from the beginning configuration to the first of the plurality of intermediate configurations, and 
 a preparation guide according to the prosthodontic treatment plan. 
   
     
     
         9 . The method of planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition of  claim 8 , wherein the restorative parameter comprises a time for performing the dental treatment, and wherein the orthodontic treatment plan is modified according to a constraint on the time for the dental treatment. 
     
     
         10 . The method of planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition of  claim 8 , wherein the restorative parameter comprises an amount of tooth structure removal, and wherein the orthodontic treatment plan is modified according to a constraint on the amount of tooth structure removed. 
     
     
         11 . A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions for planning a dental treatment for a patient's dentition that when executed by a processor cause a computer to:
 generate a prosthodontic treatment plan based on a virtual model of the patient's dentition;   generate an orthodontic treatment plan based on the virtual model of the patient's dentition, the orthodontic treatment plan including a plurality of tooth movement steps to move one or more teeth of the patient's dentition from a beginning configuration to a plurality of intermediate configurations, each intermediate configuration includes a tooth model geometry for one or more teeth of the patient's dentition;   evaluate the restorative parameter at each of the plurality of intermediate configurations;   determine a change in tooth volume geometry at the plurality of intermediate configurations;   generate a visualization of the change in tooth volume geometry at the plurality of intermediate configurations; and   display the visualization.   
     
     
         12 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein where in the instructions that cause the computer to generate the visualization of the tooth volume geometry cause the computer to generate an overlay. 
     
     
         13 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions that cause the computer to generate the visualization of the tooth volume geometry causes the computer to superimpose a modified tooth volume geometry with an unmodified tooth volume geometry. 
     
     
         14 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions that cause the computer to generate the visualization of the tooth volume geometry includes superimposing a modified tooth volume geometry over an unmodified tooth volume geometry. 
     
     
         15 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions that cause the computer to generate the visualization of the tooth volume geometry causes the computer to generate a prosthodontic geometry on the tooth volume geometry. 
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions that cause the computer to generate the visualization of the tooth volume geometry causes the computer to generate a visualization of material removal geometry. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions that cause the computer to generate the visualization of the tooth volume geometry causes the computer to generate a visualization of material addition geometry. 
     
     
         18 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 11 , wherein the instructions further cause the computer to:
 set a first of the plurality of intermediate configurations to begin prosthodontic treatment, the first of the plurality of intermediate configurations satisfying the constraint on the restorative parameter; and   cause a fabrication machine to fabricate at least one of:
 a series of orthodontic aligners based on the orthodontic treatment plan from the beginning configuration to the first of the plurality of intermediate configurations, and 
 a preparation guide according to the prosthodontic treatment plan. 
   
     
     
         19 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the restorative parameter comprises a time for performing the dental treatment, and wherein the orthodontic treatment plan is modified according to a constraint on the time for the dental treatment. 
     
     
         20 . The non-transitory computer readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the restorative parameter comprises an amount of tooth structure removed, and wherein the orthodontic treatment plan is modified according to a constraint on the amount of tooth structure removed.