Dental apparatus for radiographic and non-radiographic imaging
View Patent ↗Methods and systems for making a computer model of a patient's jaws on the basis of digital information from computed tomography and non-radiographic digital imaging of the patient's teeth or dental casts of their teeth.
1. A dental apparatus, comprising:
a bite registration section formed of a radiolucent material and being configured to fit within a patient's mouth and mate with the patient's teeth;
a central forward projection extending from the bite registration section configured to extend between lips when the bite registration section is in the mouth;
an exterior portion configured to reside outside the mouth, the exterior portion being attached to the central forward projection, the exterior portion having a central vertical portion extending downward from the central forward projection, a first wing extending laterally from the central vertical portion in a first direction, and a second wing extending laterally from the central vertical portion in a second direction, the first and second wings being below the bite registration section; and
at least three non-linear radiographic markers disposed on the exterior portion and having a radiographic density that makes them visible in CT data, at least one of said markers being disposed on said central vertical portion, at least one of said markers being disposed on said first wing, and at least one of said markers being disposed on said second wing.
2. The dental apparatus of claim 1 wherein said exterior portion comprises at least one wing configured to follow a contour of the patient's face.
3. The dental apparatus of claim 1 wherein said bite registration section comprises a U-shaped section.
4. The dental apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of said at least three non-linear radiographic markers is configured to reside above a plane of occlusion of the patient's teeth.
5. The dental apparatus of claim 1 wherein at least one of said at least three non-linear radiographic markers is configured to reside below a plane of occlusion of the patient's teeth.
6. The dental apparatus of claim 1 wherein said apparatus is formed entirely of a substantially radiolucent material except for said at least three non-linear radiographic markers.
7. A dental apparatus, comprising:
a radiolucent bite registration section configured to fit within a patient's mouth and mate with the patient's teeth;
said bite registration section comprising impressions of the patient's upper and lower teeth;
a forward projection extending from said bite registration section, said forward projection being configured to extend outside the patient's mouth when said bite registration section is in the patient's mouth;
an exterior portion depending from said forward projection, said exterior portion being configured to reside outside the patient's mouth and having a pair of wings extending laterally from a vertical portion below said bite registration section such that said pair of wings is disposed proximal to the patient's chin; and
a plurality of radiographic markers disposed on said pair of wings and configured to reside below a plane of occlusion of the patient's teeth.
8. The dental apparatus of claim 7 wherein said pair of wings comprises a curved shape that extends laterally along both sides of the patient's face and has a lateral span that is less than the width of the patient's face.