Creating a positive mold of a patient's dentition for use in forming an orthodontic appliance

摘要

A positive mold for use in creating an orthodontic appliance is produced by obtaining a digital dentition model (200), such as a 3D geometric surface model or a 3D volumetric image model that defines the shape of an orthodontic appliance, and then altering the digital dentition model (205) to remove a portion that does not affect the shape of the orthondotic appliance. The altered digital dentition model then is used (210) to construct a positive mold for the orthodontic appliance. Processing circuitry, such as a programmed computer, is used to obtain, and alter the digital dentition model. A rapid prototype device, such as a stereo-lithography machine, is commonly used to construct the positive mold.