US 12,409,013 B2
Standard orthodontic appliances with semi-custom bases
Richard E. Raby, Lino Lakes, MN (US)
Assigned to Solventum Intellectual Properties Company, Maplewood, MN (US)
Filed by Solventum Intellectual Properties Company, Maplewood, MN (US)
Filed on Feb. 7, 2024, as Appl. No. 18/435,193.
Application 18/435,193 is a continuation of application No. 16/954,313, abandoned, previously published as PCT/IB2019/050603, filed on Jan. 24, 2019.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/627,270, filed on Feb. 7, 2018.
Prior Publication US 2024/0173101 A1, May 30, 2024
Int. Cl. A61C 7/00 (2006.01); A61C 7/14 (2006.01); A61C 7/28 (2006.01)
CPC A61C 7/002 (2013.01) [A61C 7/145 (2013.01); A61C 7/282 (2013.01)] 4 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
1. A computer-implemented method of selecting an orthodontic appliance, comprising:
generating, using a machine learning model, a series of standard appliances each including a base having a different geometry, the generating comprising:
receiving digital 3D models of at least a portion of teeth from a sample group;
classifying the digital 3D models into classes of similar shapes; and
creating digital 3D model representatives for each of the classes, each digital 3D model representative comprising an average shape of the similar shapes in a corresponding class;
manufacturing each of the standard appliances to build an inventory, wherein each appliance has a different base geometry corresponding to the average shape of a corresponding digital 3D model representative;
storing 3D digital model representatives of each appliance of the inventory in a virtual library;
receiving a set of user constraints for a base orientation corresponding to at least one appliance of the virtual library;
selecting a first portion of a base of a first appliance from the virtual library that best fits within the set of user constraints;
virtually fitting the first portion of the base to a 3D digital model of at least one tooth surface at a first position and a first orientation on the tooth surface based at least in part on the set of user constraints;
evaluating a fit of the first appliance to the tooth surface based at least in part on the virtual fitting;
determining whether the fit is within a tolerance, wherein when the fit is not within a tolerance:
selecting a second portion of a base of a second appliance from the virtual library, wherein the second appliance has a base designed for a different tooth type, designed for a different position on a tooth than the first portion, or designed for a different orientation on a tooth than the first orientation;
virtually fitting the second portion of the base to the at least one tooth surface at the first position and the first orientation; and
evaluating the fit of the second appliance to determine whether the fit is better or worse than the fit of the first appliance; and
selecting either the first appliance or the second appliance for bonding a base of the selected appliance to a portion of a dental anatomy, and obtaining the selected appliance from the inventory.