Using an intraoral mirror with an integrated camera to record dental status, and applications thereof

1. A method for capturing an image representing a patient's dental status, comprising:

(a) receiving (i) a plurality of photographs of an interior of a patient's mouth, and (ii) associated position information for the respective photographs, wherein the plurality of photographs are collected from an image sensor affixed to a dental mirror, wherein the position information is collected relative to a base station capable of docking to the dental mirror, wherein the position information is determined using an accelerometer or gyroscope or both affixed to the dental mirror, wherein the accelerometer or gyroscope or both is calibrated with the dental mirror while docked to the base station, and wherein each one of the plurality of photographs overlap at least in part with another one of the plurality of photographs;

(b) in the overlapping portions, determining features that match between multiple photographs;

(c) based on the associated position information for the respective photographs and the matching features, aligning the plurality of photographs to represent a series of adjacent teeth; and

(d) stitching the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth into a panoramic image representing a state of at least a portion of the patient's mouth.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth received in (a) are taken before a dental treatment of the patient's mouth, and further comprising:

(e) receiving (i) another plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth after the dental treatment, and (ii) associated position information for the respective other photographs, wherein the other plurality of photographs are collected from the image sensor affixed to the dental mirror, and wherein each one of the other plurality of photographs overlap at least in part with another one of the other plurality of photographs;

(f) in the overlapping portions of the other plurality of photographs, determining features that match between multiple photographs received in (e);

(g) based on the associated position information for the respective other photographs and the matching features determined in (f), aligning the other plurality of photographs to represent the series of adjacent teeth; and

(h) stitching the other plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth into another panoramic image representing another state of at least a portion of the patient's mouth to compare the patient's mouth before and after the dental treatment.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

(e) adjusting the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth to account for variations in brightness between the plurality of photographs such that the panoramic image has a substantially uniform brightness.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

(e) adjusting the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth to account for variations in scale between the plurality of photographs such that the panoramic image proportionally represents the patient's mouth.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein steps (a)-(d) occur on a server remote from the dental mirror and wherein the receiving (a) comprises receiving the plurality of photographs and associated position information via a computer network.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth are collected during a plurality of different dental visits.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

(e) associating a point on the panoramic image to another image representing a location that the point represents in the patient's mouth.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the other image is an x-ray image.

9. A program storage device tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by at least one machine to perform a method for capturing an image representing a patient's dental status, comprising:

(a) receiving (i) a plurality of photographs of an interior of a patient's mouth, and (ii) associated position information for the respective photographs, wherein the plurality of photographs are collected from an image sensor affixed to a dental mirror, wherein the position information is collected relative to a base station capable of docking to the dental mirror, wherein the position information is determined using an accelerometer or gyroscope or both affixed to the dental mirror, wherein the accelerometer or gyroscope or both is calibrated with the dental mirror while docked to the base station, and wherein each one of the plurality of photographs overlap at least in part with another one of the plurality of photographs;

(b) in the overlapping portions, determining features that match between multiple photographs;

(c) based on the associated position information for the respective photographs and the matching features, aligning the plurality of photographs to represent a series of adjacent teeth; and

(d) stitching the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth into a panoramic image representing a state of at least a portion of the patient's mouth.

10. The program storage device of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth received in (a) are taken before a dental treatment of the patient's mouth, and the method further comprising:

(e) receiving (i) another plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth after the dental treatment, and (ii) associated position information for the respective other photographs, wherein the other plurality of photographs are collected from the image sensor affixed to the dental mirror, and wherein each one of the other plurality of photographs overlap at least in part with another one of the other plurality of photographs;

(f) in the overlapping portions of the other plurality of photographs, determining features that match between multiple photographs received in (e);

(g) based on the associated position information for the respective other photographs and the matching features determined in (f), aligning the other plurality of photographs to represent the series of adjacent teeth; and

(h) stitching the other plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth into another panoramic image representing another state of at least a portion of the patient's mouth to compare the patient's mouth before and after the dental treatment.

11. The program storage device of claim 9 , the method further comprising:

(e) adjusting the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth to account for variations in brightness between the plurality of photographs such that the panoramic image has a substantially uniform brightness.

12. The program storage device of claim 9 , the method further comprising:

(e) adjusting the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth to account for variations in scale between the plurality of photographs such that the panoramic image proportionally represents the patient's mouth.

13. The program storage device of claim 9 , wherein steps (a)-(d) occur on a server remote from the dental mirror and wherein the receiving (a) comprises receiving the plurality of photographs and associated position information via a computer network.

14. The program storage device of claim 9 , wherein the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth are collected during a plurality of different dental visits.

15. The program storage device of claim 9 , the method further comprising:

(e) associating a point on the panoramic image to an x-ray image representing the same location in the patient's mouth.

16. A system for capturing an image representing a patient's dental status, comprising:

a processor;

a patient status database that stores historical patient status information including historical panoramic images of a patient's mouth; and

a server, executed on the processor, that receives (i) a plurality of photographs of an interior of the patient's mouth, and (ii) associated position information for the respective photographs, wherein the plurality of photographs are collected from an image sensor affixed to a dental mirror, wherein the position information is collected relative to a base station capable of docking to the dental mirror, wherein the position information is determined using an accelerometer or gyroscope or both affixed to the dental mirror, wherein the accelerometer or gyroscope or both is calibrated with the dental mirror while docked to the base station, and wherein each one of the plurality of photographs overlap at least in part with another one of the plurality of photographs, the server comprising:

a panorama stitcher module that (i) determines features in the overlapping portions that match between multiple photographs, (ii) based on associated position information for the respective photographs and the matching features, aligns the plurality of photographs to represent a series of adjacent teeth, and (iii) stitches the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth into a panoramic image representing a state of at least a portion of the patient's mouth.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the panorama stitcher module adjusts the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth to account for variations in scale between the plurality of photographs such that the panoramic image proportionally represents the patient's mouth.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the panorama stitcher module adjusts the plurality of photographs of the interior of the patient's mouth to account for variations in brightness between the plurality of photographs such that the panoramic image has a substantially uniform brightness.