	US 7,458,812 B2
	Three-dimensional occlusal and interproximal contact detection and display using virtual tooth models
Peer Sporbert, Berlin (Germany); Hans Imgrund, Berlin (Germany); Dimitij Kouzian, Berlin (Germany); Stephan Maetzel, Berlin (Germany); Rohit Sachdeva, Plano, Tex. (US); and Rüdger Rubbert, Berlin (Germany)
Assigned to Orametrix, Inc., Richardson, Tex. (US)
Filed on Mar. 08, 2005, as Appl. No. 11/74,423.
Application 11/074423 is a division of application No. 10/137495, filed on May 01, 2002, granted, now 7,160,110.
Application 10/137495 is a continuation in part of application No. 09/835039, filed on Apr. 13, 2001, granted, now 6,648,640.
Application 09/835039 is a continuation in part of application No. 09/560640, filed on Apr. 28, 2000, abandoned.
Application 09/560640 is a continuation in part of application No. 09/451609, filed on Nov. 30, 1999, granted, now 6,250,918.
Prior Publication US 2005/0153255 A1, Jul. 14, 2005
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61C 3/00 (2006.01); A61C 11/00 (2006.01); A61C 13/00 (2006.01); A61C 5/08 (2006.01)

U.S. Cl. 433—24 [433/213; 433/167; 433/218]

17 Claims

1. A method of evaluating a proposed set-up of teeth in planning treatment for an orthodontic patient, comprising the steps of:

obtaining a three-dimensional digital model of the teeth of the upper and lower arches;

moving said teeth to a proposed set-up for treating the patient;

calculating distances between portions of said teeth in said upper and lower arches when said teeth are positioned in an occluded condition; wherein said step of calculating includes, for a plurality of points on a surface of a tooth, the step of calculating a sphere around each of said points, and enlarging the size of the sphere until the sphere intersects with a surface of a tooth on the opposing arch in said model; and

displaying said teeth to a user in a manner such that said user can readily distinguish portions of said teeth in said upper and lower arches in which the distance between said portions is less than a predetermined threshold.