Accurately producing a base for physical dental arch model
Systems and methods are disclosed to produce a dental base having sockets for receiving physical tooth models. The method includes receiving positional information of the sockets on the base, determining a relative movement between a laser and a base plate; emitting a laser beam from the laser to the base plate, and producing a socket in the base plate by the emitted laser beam to form a dental base configured to receive the physical tooth models.
1 . A method for producing a dental base having sockets for receiving physical tooth models, comprising:
receiving positional information of the sockets on the base;
determining a relative movement between a laser and a base plate;
emitting a laser beam from the laser to the base plate; and
producing a socket in the base plate by the emitted laser beam to form a dental base configured to receive the physical tooth models.
2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the base plate comprises a material selected from one of the following: polymers, thermal elastic materials, urethane, epoxy, plaster, clay, acrylic, latex, dental PVS, resin, metal, aluminum, ice, wax, sand, and stone.
3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
labeling the physical tooth models and their associated sockets on the base in a predetermined sequence to define the positions of the physical tooth models on the base.
4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating positional information of the sockets on the base in accordance with a digital arch models that is acquired from a patient's arch.
5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining a relative movement between the laser and the base plate includes moving the base plate by a motorized stage in X and Y directions.
6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein determining relative movement between the laser and the base plate includes moving the base plate in a first direction and moving the laser beam in a second direction.
7 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising
focusing the emitted laser beam to a location on the base plate to produce the socket.
8 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising
guiding the emitted laser beam by an optical fiber to a location on the base plate to cut the socket.
9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the material around the location on the base plate is removed by heating, melting, ablation, or evaporation by the emitted laser beam.
10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the physical tooth models comprise features to assist the reception of the physical tooth models by the base.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the features comprise one or more of a pin, a registration slot, a notch, a protrusion, a hole, an interlocking mechanism, a jig, and a pluggable or attachable feature.
12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the features in the physical tooth models are shaped in accordance with the profile of the emitted laser beam that produces the socket in the base plate.
13 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising
producing a plurality of sockets in the base plate by the emitted laser beam to form a base to receive a plurality of physical tooth models to form a physical dental arch model.
14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the base comprises a plurality of configurations of sockets, wherein each of the configurations is adapted to receive physical tooth models to form a different arrangement of a tooth arch model.
15 . The method of claim 14 , further comprising:
inserting the physical tooth models into the sockets in a first configuration; and
inserting the physical tooth models into the sockets in a second configuration.
16 . A method for producing a dental base having sockets for receiving physical tooth models, comprising:
producing the physical tooth models having one or more of a pin, a protrusion, and a pluggable feature at the bottom portion;
determining a relative movement between a laser and a base plate;
emitting a laser beam from the laser to the base plate;
producing a socket in the base plate by the emitted laser beam; and
inserting the pin, the protrusion, or the pluggable feature at the bottom portion of the physical tooth models to the sockets in the base to form a physical dental arch model.
17 . A system for producing a base for receiving physical tooth models, comprising:
a computer adapted to store positional information of the sockets to be formed on a base plate;
a transport system configured to move the base under the control of the computer; and
a laser configured to emit a laser beam onto the base plate to form a socket in the base plate after the base plate is moved to a position in accordance to the positional information stored in the computer.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the positional information of the sockets are derived from a digital arch model.
19 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the transport system includes a motorized stage that can move the base plate in two dimensions.
20 . The system of claim 17 , wherein the physical models comprise one or more of a pin, a registration a notch, a protrusion, and a pluggable or attachable feature that can be received by the sockets in the base.