Method for virtual setup with mixed dentition

1. A method for visualizing a patient dentition orthodontic treatment comprising:

acquiring a surface contour model of patient dentition;

segmenting the surface contour model to identify one or more segmented teeth;

identifying at least one unerupted tooth within the surface contour model, wherein the at least one unerupted tooth is identified using at least one of three-dimensional volume acquisition or panoramic radiography;

accessing shape and size information for the unerupted tooth based, at least in part, on the at least one of the three-dimensional volume acquisition or the panoramic radiography;

identifying a substitute model tooth based at least in part on the shape and size information for the unerupted tooth, wherein the substitute model tooth reflects a replacement permanent tooth model; and

generating a virtual setup of the patient dentition, wherein a location corresponding to the at least one unerupted tooth is replaced by the replacement permanent tooth model.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing a segmented cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) 3D volume, and wherein the replacement permanent tooth model replaces an unerupted permanent tooth from the segmented CBCT 3D volume.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the replacement permanent tooth model is an erupted permanent tooth symmetrical to the tooth.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the replacement permanent tooth model is derived from a selected tooth model library.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the replacement permanent tooth model is determined with a predictive model analysis using size and shape of at least one permanent tooth among the one or more segmented teeth.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein each identified segmented tooth has a corresponding mesh and a tooth margin.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein acquiring the surface contour model comprises acquiring one or more images from a CBCT apparatus, a panoramic radiography apparatus or an intraoral scanner.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein generating the virtual setup of patient dentition further comprises determining jaw size.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein one or more operator specified metrics are used for evaluating a discrepancy between a desired final tooth arrangement and the virtual setup.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein an arch shape of the generated virtual setup is modified from the arch shape of the acquired surface contour model.

11. A method for visualizing a patient dentition orthodontic treatment comprising:

receiving a plurality of segmented teeth from a virtual model of an initial tooth arrangement;

identifying at least one unerupted tooth within the surface contour model, wherein the at least one unerupted tooth is identified using at least one of three-dimensional volume acquisition or panoramic radiography;

accessing shape and size information for the unerupted tooth based, at least in part, on the at least one of the three-dimensional volume acquisition or the panoramic radiography;

identifying a substitute model tooth based at least in part on the shape and size information for the unerupted tooth, wherein the substitute model tooth reflects a replacement permanent tooth model; and

generating a virtual setup of a target tooth arrangement wherein a location corresponding to the at least one tooth is replaced by the replacement permanent tooth model.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising providing a segmented CBCT 3D volume or segmented panoramic radiography image, and wherein the corresponding permanent tooth model replaces an unerupted permanent tooth from the segmented CBCT 3D volume or segmented panoramic radiography image.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein the corresponding permanent tooth model is determined based on an erupted permanent tooth symmetrical to the unerupted tooth, derived from a selected tooth model library, or determined with a predictive model analysis using size and shape of at least one permanent tooth among the one or more segmented teeth.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein the receiving a plurality of segmented teeth further comprises:

acquiring a 3D mesh of the initial tooth arrangement; and

segmenting the 3D mesh to identify the plurality of segmented teeth, wherein each segmented tooth has a corresponding mesh and a tooth margin.

15. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

accepting operator selections of one or more preferences and corresponding metrics that relate to changes in the initial tooth arrangement, where the virtual setup simulates patient dentition according to the operator selected preferences and the corresponding metrics.

16. The method of claim 15 further comprising displaying at least one of the operator selected preferences and corresponding metrics with the virtual setup.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

accepting a subsequent operator selection to modify at least one selected preference and corresponding metric;

re-generating the virtual setup that simulates the patient dentition according to the at least one subsequent operator modified preference and corresponding metric; and

displaying the at least one subsequent operator modified preference and corresponding metric with the re-generated virtual setup.

18. The method of claim 15 wherein the one or more preferences relate to maxillary arch type, mandibular arch type, inter-canine width expansion, flattening parameters for shaping the arch curve, tooth translation, arch expansion and tooth translation, arch contraction and tooth translation, tooth extraction, tooth extraction order, interproximal reduction, and occlusal class treatment type.

19. The method of claim 11 further comprising accepting operator selections of one or more simulation options, wherein the simulation options relate to one or more of arch expansion and tooth translation, arch contraction and tooth translation, or interproximal reduction and tooth translation.

20. An apparatus for providing a virtual setup for orthodontics assessment, the apparatus comprising:

an imaging apparatus configured to acquire a surface contour of patient dentition;

a processor programmed with instructions that

(i) segment the dentition surface contour to identify one or more segmented teeth;

(ii) identify at least one unerupted tooth within the surface contour model, wherein the at least one unerupted tooth is identified using at least one of three-dimensional volume acquisition or panoramic radiography;

(iii) access shape and size information for the unerupted tooth based, at least in part, on the at least one of the three-dimensional volume acquisition or the panoramic radiography;

(iv) identify a substitute model tooth based at least in part on the shape and size information for the unerupted tooth, wherein the substitute model tooth reflects a replacement permanent tooth model;

(v) generate a virtual setup of a target dentition arrangement, wherein a location corresponding to the at least one unerupted tooth is replaced by the corresponding permanent tooth model; and

a display in signal communication with the processor, and configured to display the virtual setup.