Abstract: A method for designing dental appliances may include receiving a 3D model of a patient's oral cavity and determining a target arrangement of teeth of the patient from the 3D model. A treatment plan for moving teeth of a patient from an initial position towards and final position over a plurality of stages may be generated. For a stage of the plurality of stages, the method may include identifying which of the teeth of the patient are stationary for the stage of the treatment plan, modifying movement of the stationary teeth for the stage of the treatment plan, and revising the treatment plan using a modified movement of the stationary teeth for the stage of the plurality of stages to generate a revised treatment plan.

Abstract: A dental attachment positioning device may include a plurality of registration elements. The registration elements may include a tooth registration surface configured to mate with one or more teeth of a patient and a retention support for holding the registration element to one or more teeth of a patient. An attachment support may extend from and be releasably coupled to one or more dental attachments. A coupling may be located between two adjacent registration elements. The coupling may include a force concentration structure. The force concentration structure may include a notch or channel configured to facilitate a breakage between the two adjacent registration elements.

Abstract: A method for designing dental appliances may include receiving a 3D model of a patient's oral cavity and determining a target arrangement of teeth of the patient. The method may also include generating a 3D model of a first dental appliance and modeling retention of the first dental appliance for a first stage of a treatment plan based on the 3D model of the first dental appliance and a model of an arch of the patient for the first stage of the treatment plan to determine a first retention. The method may also include modifying the 3D model of the first dental appliance to include topographic features on an interior surface of the first dental appliance to generate a modified 3D model of the first dental appliance and outputting the modified 3D model of the first dental appliance for fabrication and physical dental appliance.

Abstract: A dental attachment placement device comprises a plurality of articulated registration elements shaped for placement on a plurality of teeth, which can facilitate placement, accommodate tooth movement, and improve alignment of the registration elements with the teeth, so as to accurately position an attachment for placement. The plurality of registration elements may comprise one or more attachment supports and one or more retention supports extending from the plurality of registration elements. A dental attachment can be removably coupled to the attachment support. The plurality of registration elements and attachment supports may be located on opposing sides of one or more teeth in order to maintain placement prior to adhering the attachment to the tooth. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of registration elements comprises a tooth registration surface shaped to engage the tooth with a specific position and orientation for accurate positioning of the attachment.

Abstract: A method for designing dental appliances may include receiving a 3D model of the patient's oral cavity and determining a target arrangement of the patient's teeth from the 3D model. The method may also include generating a treatment plan for moving teeth of a patient from an initial position towards and final position over a plurality of stages. For a stage of the plurality of stages the method may include identifying which of the patient's teeth are for the stage of the treatment plan, modifying movement of the stationary teeth for the stage of the treatment plan, and revising the treatment plan using a modified movement of the stationary tooth for the stage of the plurality of stages to generate a revised treatment plan.

Abstract: Devices, systems, and methods for expanding a patient's palate are provided. In some embodiments, a system for designing a dental system for expanding a palate of a patient includes one or more processors configured to perform operations including: accessing patient data representing one or more characteristics of the patient; accessing dental system data representing a palatal expander and a dental auxiliary for the patient, where the dental auxiliary is configured to be coupled to a tooth and to retain the palatal expander on a dental arch of the patient; determining whether a force applied to the dental auxiliary during placement or removal of the palatal expander is likely to cause detachment of the dental auxiliary from the tooth; modifying the dental system data to reduce the applied force; and generating one or more of a digital representation of the palatal expander or a digital representation of the dental auxiliary.

Abstract: Methods for updating a geometry of an initial 3D model of a dental auxiliary or a dental appliance to conform to an engaging surface of a corresponding dental component to provide better force systems as part of an orthodontic treatment. Any of these methods may include predicting the updated geometry of the initial 3D model data.

Abstract: Methods and systems for predicting manufacturing outcomes are provided. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving at least one image representing a target geometry of an object to be fabricated using an additive manufacturing process. The method can include generating at least one modified image by inputting the at least one image into a machine learning algorithm. The machine learning algorithm can be trained to determine one or more modifications to the at least one image, where the one or modifications are configured to compensate for predicted deviations from the target geometry of the object when the object is fabricated via the additive manufacturing process based on the at least one image. The method can further include generating instructions for fabricating the object using the additive manufacturing process, based on the at least one modified image.

Abstract: A dental attachment placement device comprises a plurality of articulated registration elements shaped for placement on a plurality of teeth, which can facilitate placement, accommodate tooth movement, and improve alignment of the registration elements with the teeth, so as to accurately position an attachment for placement. The plurality of registration elements may comprise one or more attachment supports and one or more retention supports extending from the plurality of registration elements. A dental attachment can be removably coupled to the attachment support. The plurality of registration elements and attachment supports may be located on opposing sides of one or more teeth in order to maintain placement prior to adhering the attachment to the tooth. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of registration elements comprises a tooth registration surface shaped to engage the tooth with a specific position and orientation for accurate positioning of the attachment.

Abstract: Devices, methods, and systems for placing dental auxiliaries on teeth are provided. In some embodiments, for example, a dental auxiliary positioner for placing a dental auxiliary on a tooth includes: a registration element configured to receive a patient's tooth; and an auxiliary support coupled to the registration element and further coupled to an auxiliary, where the auxiliary support is configured to position the auxiliary against a surface of the tooth, and where the auxiliary support includes a frame extending at least partially around the auxiliary, one or more struts coupling the auxiliary to the frame, and a flexible bridge coupling the frame to the registration element, where the flexible bridge is configured to bend in one or more directions relative to the tooth to adjust the position of the auxiliary on the surface of the tooth.

Abstract: Methods, devices, and systems for placing dental auxiliaries on teeth and/or removing dental auxiliaries from teeth are provided. In some embodiments, a device for removing a dental auxiliary from a tooth includes: a first elongate member having a proximal end and a distal end; a second elongate member having a proximal end and a distal end, where the first and second elongate members are pivotally coupled to each other; a scraper at the distal end of the second elongate member, where the scraper is configured to apply force to the dental auxiliary to remove the dental auxiliary from the tooth; and a pair of sidewalls configured to capture debris resulting from the removal of the dental auxiliary from the tooth.

Abstract: A dental attachment placement device comprises a plurality of articulated registration elements shaped for placement on a plurality of teeth, which can facilitate placement, accommodate tooth movement, and improve alignment of the registration elements with the teeth, so as to accurately position an attachment for placement. The plurality of registration elements may comprise one or more attachment supports and one or more retention supports extending from the plurality of registration elements. A dental attachment can be removably coupled to the attachment support. The plurality of registration elements and attachment supports may be located on opposing sides of one or more teeth in order to maintain placement prior to adhering the attachment to the tooth. In some embodiments, each of the plurality of registration elements comprises a tooth registration surface shaped to engage the tooth with a specific position and orientation for accurate positioning of the attachment.

Abstract: Methods and systems for designing dental appliances are provided. In some embodiments, a method includes identifying one or more intended outcomes for one or more areas of a dental appliance, where the dental appliance is shaped to receive and engage with a person's dentition in accordance with a treatment plan; identifying one or more acceptability criteria for evaluating compliance with the one or more intended outcomes; obtaining an appliance model for the dental appliance, where the appliance model represents the one or more areas with one or more first physical properties conforming to the one or more acceptability criteria, and where the one or more first physical properties are different than one or more second physical properties outside the one or more areas; providing three-dimensional (3D) printing instructions to generate the dental appliance using the appliance model; and 3D printing the dental appliance using the 3D printing instructions.

Abstract: Methods for designing orthodontic appliances are provided. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a treatment plan for a patient's dentition and generating an aligner model representing an aligner configured to implement a treatment stage of the treatment plan. The aligner model can include a thickness map having a thickness parameter for each location of the aligner model. The method can include adjusting the thickness map by using the aligner model to evaluate an outcome when the aligner is applied to the patient's dentition, and iteratively reducing the value of each thickness parameter of the thickness map based on the evaluation until a resulting thickness is determined for each thickness parameter. The method can also include providing instructions to manufacture the aligner based on the aligner model with the resulting thickness for each thickness parameter of the thickness map.

Abstract: Methods and systems for generating support structures for additively manufactured objects are described herein. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a digital representation of a dental appliance configured to implement a treatment stage of a treatment plan for a patient's teeth. The method can include generating a support structure arrangement configured to support the dental appliance during an additive manufacturing process. The support structure arrangement can be generated using a machine learning model. The machine learning model can be trained on a training data set including appliance data representing geometries of a plurality of dental appliances, support structure data representing geometries of a plurality of support structure arrangements, and outcome data representing outcomes of the additive manufacturing process for the plurality of dental appliances with the respective support structure arrangements.

Abstract: Apparatuses and methods for assessing a dental x-ray image and predicting tooth eruption and/or exfoliation. The apparatuses may use one or more trained neural networks to assess a patient's x-rays as well as dental measurements determined from the patient's x-rays to predict approximately when a permanent tooth may erupt to replace a baby tooth. The neural networks may be trained using a data training set of x-ray images and accompanying dental measurement data.

Abstract: Dental appliances and methods for expanding the lower dental arch. The appliances may be removable mandibular expander devices for efficient arch expansion while being comfortable to wear and easy to use. The appliances may include a lingual portion that is shaped and sized to apply an expansion force to lingual surfaces of one or more teeth. The shape and size of the lingual portion may be configured to distribute the forces among posterior and/or anterior teeth.

Abstract: Methods and apparatuses are disclosed for electronic devices associated with monitoring a patient's use of an intraoral dental appliance. The monitoring electronics may communicate with near-field communication (NFC) signals. An NFC booster is disclosed to improve NFC data transfer between the electronic devices that monitor patient usage and communication devices. NFC boosters may be included within dental appliance cases and/or mobile phone cases. Also described are method and apparatuses for mounting the monitoring electronics onto the dental appliance. Also described are compact sensors, e.g., capacitive sensors, that may be included as part of a monitoring electronics unit.

Abstract: A method for use in additively manufacturing an orthodontic aligner may include receiving a digital model of an aligner, processing the digital model of the aligner to modify the digital model based on predicted deviations during fabrication to generate a first updated digital model of the aligner, determining that whether the predicted deviations of a physical aligner additively manufactured based on the first updated digital model of the aligner are acceptable, and outputting the first updated digital model of the aligner for fabrication of the physical aligner by additive manufacture of the physical aligner.

Abstract: Methods for designing orthodontic appliances are provided. In some embodiments, a method includes receiving a treatment plan for a patient's dentition and generating an aligner model representing an aligner configured to implement a treatment stage of the treatment plan. The aligner model can include a thickness map having a thickness parameter for each location of the aligner model. The method can include adjusting the thickness map by using the aligner model to evaluate an outcome when the aligner is applied to the patient's dentition, and iteratively reducing the value of each thickness parameter of the thickness map based on the evaluation until a resulting thickness is determined for each thickness parameter. The method can also include providing instructions to manufacture the aligner based on the aligner model with the resulting thickness for each thickness parameter of the thickness map.