Prioritization of three dimensional dental elements

Abstract

The present disclosure includes methods, systems, and devices for prioritization of three dimensional dental elements. One method for prioritizing three dimensional dental elements includes receiving a virtual initial dental data set (IDDS) of teeth having spatial information regarding the positions of a number of teeth in the virtual IDDS with respect to each other for presentation of the teeth in a virtual three dimensional space to be viewed on a user interface, setting prioritization values of a number of elements of one or more of the number of teeth, and prioritizing the number of elements to be selected by a user based upon their prioritization values.

1 . A computing device implemented method of viewing three dimensional dental elements, comprising:
 receiving a virtual initial dental data set (IDDS) of teeth having spatial information regarding positions of a number of teeth in the virtual IDDS with respect to each other for presentation of the teeth in a virtual three dimensional space to be viewed on a user interface; and   manipulating a transparency of at least one of the number of teeth based on a line of sight of the reference point in the virtual IDDS.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising allowing the reference point to be selected before the at least one of the number of teeth where the reference point and the at least one tooth have overlapping portions. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising automatically rendering a first tooth and a second tooth in the number of teeth wherein the first tooth is more transparent than the second tooth, and wherein the second tooth in the number of teeth is more opaque than the first tooth based on the line of sight of the reference point. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one element in the number of elements is a tooth in the virtual IDDS. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the first element is a tooth in the virtual IDDS, and the second element is a reference point on the tooth. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein at least one element in the number of elements is a dental object. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising allowing manipulation of the at least one reference point. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising considering a line of sight of the user and automatically rendering a particular tooth in the virtual IDDS transparent based on the line of sight consideration. 
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computing device readable medium having executable instructions that can be executed by a processor to cause a computing device to perform a method of viewing three dimensional dental elements, comprising:
 receiving a virtual initial dental data set (IDDS) of teeth having spatial information regarding positions of a number of teeth in the virtual IDDS with respect to each other for presentation of the teeth in a virtual three dimensional space to be viewed on a user interface;   selecting and manipulating at least a second tooth of the number of teeth in the virtual IDDS wherein the manipulation includes changing a transparency of the at least second tooth based on a line of sight of the at least one of the reference point and the dental object in the virtual IDDS and the prioritization values; and   identifying a digital dental landmark on the first one of the number of teeth in the virtual IDDS.   
     
     
         10 . The medium of  claim 9 , wherein at least one of the reference point and the dental object is attached to the first tooth. 
     
     
         11 . The medium of  claim 9 , wherein the instructions are executable by the processor to cause the computer to perform the method, further comprising transferring the identified digital dental landmark to a different virtual dental data set. 
     
     
         12 . The medium of  claim 11 , wherein the different virtual dental data set includes at least one of a first virtual dental data set representing a different point in time than the virtual IDDS for a same patient and a second virtual dental data set representing a different tooth configuration than that of the virtual IDDS for the same patient. 
     
     
         13 . The medium of  claim 9 , furthering including:
 prioritizing at least one of a dental landmark, a line in the virtual IDDS, a particular shape in the virtual IDDS, and a combination thereof   
     
     
         14 . A system for viewing three dimensional dental elements, comprising:
 a memory having computer-readable instructions stored thereon; and   a processor coupled to the memory to execute the computer-readable instructions to:
 provide a virtual IDDS of teeth having spatial information regarding the positions of a number of teeth in the virtual IDDS with respect to each other; 
 select a first tooth of the number of teeth in the virtual IDDS to be presented via a user interface transparently and a second tooth of the number of teeth with at least one of a reference point and a dental object thereon in the virtual IDDS to be presented via the user interface opaquely; 
   manipulate a transparency of at least one of the first and second teeth, the transparency, the opaqueness, and a line of sight of the at least one of the reference point and the dental object in the virtual IDDS; and   display, via the user interface, the manipulation.   
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 14 , including both the reference point and the dental object that are located on the second tooth. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 14 , including both the reference point and the dental object that are located on different teeth. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the processor coupled to the memory further executes the computer-readable instructions to label a digital dental landmark on the second tooth in the virtual IDDS. 
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the processor coupled to the memory further executes the computer-readable instructions automatically adjust a transparency of a third tooth of the number of teeth in order to manipulate the at least one reference point and the dental object. 
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 14 , wherein the first tooth is located physically behind the second tooth. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the processor coupled to the memory further executes the computer-readable instructions allow the second tooth to be selected and manipulated by a user via the user interface, while the first tooth remains idle.