Digital dental examination and documentation

1. A method of electronically diagnosing and tracking the progression of one or more dental conditions, the method comprising:

acquiring a first oral feature in a first data acquisition using a data acquisition device;

determining a first oral feature first reference point from the first data acquisition, wherein determining the first oral feature first reference point comprises using a processor;

diagnosing a first dental condition upon confirming that the first oral feature first reference point is associated with the first dental condition;

acquiring the first oral feature in a second data acquisition using the data acquisition device;

determining a first oral feature second reference point from the second data acquisition, wherein determining the first oral feature second reference point comprises using the processor; and

tracking the progression of the first dental condition by determining a discrepancy between the first oral feature first and second reference points.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data acquisition device comprises at least one of a scanner, a camera, and an x-ray device.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the scanner comprises a cone beam computed tomography scanner.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first oral feature first and second reference points each comprises at least one of a dimension, a contact surface, a shape, a color, a shade, a measurement of the first oral feature.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first oral feature first and second reference points each comprises an anatomical marker of the first dental condition.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first dental condition comprises at least one of a structural and functional deterioration of soft and/or hard tissue.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein diagnosing the first dental condition comprises referencing one or more previously determined reference points stored in a memory.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first oral feature first reference point is associated with the first dental condition when a parameter of the first oral feature reference point exceeds a diagnosis threshold.

9. The method of claim 1 , further comprising prompting user input to simulate treatment of the dental condition.

10. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

acquiring a second oral feature in the first data acquisition using the data acquisition device;

determining a second oral feature first reference point from the first data acquisition, wherein determining the second oral feature first reference point comprises using a processor;

diagnosing a second dental condition upon confirming that the second oral feature first reference point is associated with the first and/or second dental condition;

acquiring the second oral feature in the second data acquisition using the data acquisition device;

determining a second oral feature second reference point from the second data acquisition, wherein determining the second oral feature second reference point comprises using the processor; and

tracking the progression of the first and/or second dental conditions by determining a discrepancy between the second oral feature first and second reference points.

11. A method of electronically diagnosing and tracking the progression of one or more dental conditions, the method comprising:

determining a dental condition first reference point and a dental condition second reference point, wherein determining the dental condition first and second reference points comprises processing first and second data sets, respectively, received from a data acquisition device;

diagnosing the dental condition upon confirming that the dental condition first and/or second reference point is associated with the dental condition; and

tracking the progression of the dental condition by determining a discrepancy between the dental condition first and second reference points.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the data acquisition device comprises at least one of a scanner, a camera, and an x-ray device.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the dental condition first and second reference points each comprises at least one of a dimension, a contact surface, a shape, a color, a shade, a measurement of the dental condition.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the dental condition first and second reference points each comprises an anatomical marker of the dental condition.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein the dental condition comprises at least one of a structural and functional deterioration of soft and/or hard tissue.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein diagnosing the dental condition comprises referencing one or more previously determined dental condition reference points stored in a memory.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein the dental condition first and second reference points are associated with the dental condition when a parameter of each of the processed first and second data sets exceeds a diagnosis threshold.

18. The method of claim 11 , further comprising prompting user input to simulate treatment of the dental condition.

19. A dental condition diagnosis and tracking system comprising:

a data acquisition device; and

an examination unit, wherein the examination unit is configured to:

process first and second data sets received from the data acquisition device to determine a dental condition first reference point and a dental condition second reference point, respectively;

diagnose the dental condition upon confirming that the dental condition first and/or second reference point is associated with the dental condition; and

track the progression of the dental condition by determining a discrepancy between the dental condition first and second reference points.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the data acquisition device comprises at least one of a scanner, a camera, and an x-ray device.