Method for production of an artificial tooth

1. A method for producing an artificial tooth, comprising a base layer substantially determining strength and at least one cover layer substantially determining appearance of a finished artificial tooth, said method comprising:

establishing the available outer shape and dimensions for the finished artificial tooth;

acquiring an image of: (i) a natural tooth to be replaced by the artificial tooth; or (ii) a corresponding natural tooth, the image acquired over at least the in-use visible outer surface thereof, including variations in appearance in said outer surface;

determining variations in the appearance determining properties of the cover layer to correspond with the variations in the appearance of the natural tooth to be replaced or the corresponding natural tooth, and determining a thickness of the cover layer locally required for said correspondence;

constructing the base layer to a shape and dimensions, which are based on the shape and dimensions available for the artificial tooth and, prior to construction, deducting therefrom the locally required thickness of the cover layer; and

applying the cover layer over the base layer to attain the available outer shape and dimensions for the finished artificial tooth.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of applying an additional cover layer within the same dimensional limitations, the cover layer and the additional cover layer having different appearance determining properties and together determining the appearance of the finished tooth.

3. The method according to claim 2 , wherein varying the appearance determining properties comprises varying the thicknesses of the cover layer and the additional cover layer.

4. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising the steps of:

adjusting at least one of the shape, thickness, form and dimensions of the base layer, further taking into account the minimum thickness of the base layer as well as the thickness of the cover layer or layers, and constructing the base layer to the adjusted specifications before applying the cover layer.

5. The method according to claim 4 , further comprising the step of: forming at least one of the base layer and the cover layer with at least one of 3D ink jet printing using STL files, robocasting of material, stereolithography (SLA), fused deposition (FD), and laminated object manufacturing.

6. The method according to claim 3 , further comprising the step of: forming at least one of the base layer and the cover layer with at least one of 3D ink jet printing using STL files, robocasting of material, stereolithography (SLA), fused deposition (FD), and laminated object manufacturing.

7. The method according to claim 2 , further comprising the step of: forming at least one of the base layer and the cover layer with at least one of 3D ink jet printing using STL files, robocasting of material, stereolithography (SLA), fused deposition (FD), and laminated object manufacturing.

8. The method according to claim 1 , wherein varying the appearance determining properties comprises varying the thickness of the cover layer.

9. The method according to claim 8 , further comprising the steps of: adjusting at least one of the shape, thickness, form and dimensions of the base layer, further taking into account the minimum thickness of the base layer as well as the thickness of the cover layer or layers, and constructing the base layer to the adjusted specifications before applying the cover layer.

10. The method according to claim 8 , further comprising the step of: forming at least one of the base layer and the cover layer with at least one of 3D ink jet printing using STL files, robocasting of material, stereolithography (SLA), fused deposition (FD), and laminated object manufacturing.

11. The method according to claim 1 , where varying the appearance determining properties comprises varying the physical material properties of at least the cover layer.

12. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising the step of locally adding an additive to the material for at least the cover layer.

13. The method according to claim 11 , further comprising the step of: forming at least one of the base layer and the cover layer with at least one of 3D ink jet printing using STL files, robocasting of material, stereolithography (SLA), fused deposition (FD), and laminated object manufacturing.

14. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of: forming at least one of the base layer and the cover layer with at least one of 3D ink jet printing using STL flies, robocasting of material, stereolithography (SLA), fused deposition (FD), and laminated object manufacturing.

15. The method according to claim 1 , where a build-up of a plurality of layers is used.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the plurality of layers are in the form of a continuous series.

17. The method according to claim 1 , where a plurality of areas over the outer surface of the artificial tooth in correspondence with the one of the natural and corresponding tooth are defined and reproduced.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein the plurality of areas are in the form of at least one pixel.

19. The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the establishing step and the deducting step is performed by a CAD-CAM system.

20. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of forming at least one of the base layer and the cover layer with robocasting of material, wherein the material robocasted is in gel form.