Preventing interference between tooth models

1. A system for mounting at least two physical tooth models on a physical dental arch model, the system comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions that when executed cause the system to:

acquire coordinates of a plurality of points on the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models, the physical dental arch model being one of the group consisting of an upper dental arch model and a lower dental arch model;

digitally represent the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models as a mesh of points in three dimensions using the acquired coordinates;

predict an interference of the two physical tooth models caused by a first configuration of at least one of: (1) one or more registration features of at least one of the two physical tooth models, or (2) one or more mounting features of the physical dental arch model, the predicted interference based on a determination that the meshes representing the surfaces of the two physical tooth models intersect at least at one point to form an overlapping portion;

calculate the depth of the overlapping portion between the two meshes to quantify the predicted interference of the two physical tooth models; and

use the quantified interference to modify the first configuration to a second different configuration such that when the two physical tooth models are mounted to the physical dental arch model, the one or more registration features interface with the one or more mounting features to constrain each of the two physical tooth models to a respective predetermined position and orientation on the physical dental arch model so as to prevent the predicted interference between the physical tooth models.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the acquisition of the coordinates of the plurality of points on the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models includes measuring the positions of points on the surfaces of an impression representing a patient's teeth.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models are digitally represented by a triangular mesh in three dimensions.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the meshes comprises at least one mesh opening having three, four or five nodes.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to adjust at least one of mounted position or mounted orientation of at least one of the two physical tooth models in accordance with the depth of the overlapping portion between the two physical tooth models to prevent the predicted interference between the mounted physical tooth models.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to configure the one or more registration features so as to be affixed to at least one underside of the two physical tooth models in accordance with the depth of the overlapping portion between the two physical tooth models to prevent the predicted interference between the two physical tooth models when they are mounted to the physical dental arch model.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the one or more registration features comprise one or more of a pin, a registration slot, a socket, a notch, a protrusion, a hole, an interlocking mechanism, a jig, and a pluggable or an attachable feature.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to output data for fabricating the physical tooth models having the one or more registration features.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to select the positions and orientations of the one or more physical dental arch mounting features to prevent the predicted interference between the two physical tooth models when they are mounted to the physical dental arch model.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the physical dental arch mounting features comprise one or more of a pin, a registration slot, a socket, a notch, a protrusion, a hole, an interlocking mechanism, a jig, and a pluggable or attachable feature.

11. The system of claim 9 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to output data for fabricating the physical dental arch model having the physical dental arch mounting features having the selected positions and orientations.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the mesh is interpolated to produce one or more surfaces to represent the boundaries of one of the two physical tooth models.

13. A system for preventing interference between two physical tooth models in a physical dental arch model, the system comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions that when executed cause the system to:

acquire the coordinates of a plurality of points on the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models, the physical dental arch model being one of the group consisting of an upper dental arch model and a lower dental arch model;

digitally represent the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models by a mesh of points in three dimensions using the acquired coordinates;

predict an interference of the two physical tooth models caused by at least one of: (1) one or more registration features of at least one of the two physical tooth models, or (2) one or more mounting features of the physical dental arch model, the predicted interference based on a determination that the meshes representing the surfaces of the two physical tooth models intersect at least at one point to form an overlapping portion;

calculate the depth of the overlapping portion between the two meshes; and

adjust at least one of a predetermined mounting position and a predetermined mounting orientation of at least one of the two physical tooth models in accordance with the depth of the overlapping portion between the two physical tooth models to prevent the predicted interference between the physical tooth models when mounted to the physical dental arch model.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to configure a first feature of the one or more registration features so as to be affixed to at least one underside of the two physical tooth models in accordance with the depth of the overlapping portion between the two physical tooth models to prevent the predicted interference between the two physical tooth models when they are mounted to a base with the assistance of the first feature.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the first feature comprises one or more of a pin, a registration slot, a socket, a notch, a protrusion, a hole, an interlocking mechanism, a jig, and a pluggable or an attachable feature.

16. The system of claim 14 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to output data for fabricating the physical tooth models having the first feature.

17. A system for preventing interference between two physical tooth models in a physical dental arch model, the system comprising a non-transitory computer readable medium having instructions that when executed cause the system to:

acquire the coordinates of a plurality of points on the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models, the physical dental arch model being one of the group consisting of an upper dental arch model and a lower dental arch model;

digitally represent the surfaces of each of the two physical tooth models by a mesh of points in three dimensions using the acquired coordinates;

interpolate each of the two meshes to produce one or more surfaces to represent the boundaries of one of the two physical tooth models;

predict an interference of the two physical tooth models caused by a first configuration of at least one of: (1) one or more registration features of at least one of the two physical tooth models, or (2) one or more mounting features of the physical dental arch model, the predicted interference based on a determination that the interpolated surfaces intersect at least at one point to form an overlapping portion;

calculate the depth of the overlapping portion between the two interpolated surfaces to quantify the predicted interference of the two physical tooth models; and

use the quantified interference to modify the first configuration to a second different configuration so as to prevent the predicted interference between the physical tooth models when mounted to the physical dental arch model in respective predetermined positions and predetermined orientations.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to adjust at least one of the predetermined positions or the predetermined orientations of at least one of the two physical tooth models in accordance with the quantified interference between the two physical tooth models to prevent the predicted interference between the physical tooth models.

19. The system of claim 18 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the system to configure a first feature of the one or more registration features so as to be affixed to at least one underside of the two physical tooth models in accordance with the quantified interference between the two physical tooth models to prevent the predicted interference between the two physical tooth models when they are mounted to a base with the assistance of the first feature.