Automated dental treatment system

Abstract

An apparatus for performing dental surgery includes a central processing unit that controls automated operation of the apparatus and a display that renders an image of a target tooth requiring surgical intervention. The image of a target tooth being created from an image file received from the central processing unit. An input device receives surgical instructions from a user for providing the surgical intervention. The instructions are provided to the central processing unit for process. The surgical instructions include visual indications on the image of a target tooth that is to be treated. A robotic arm that includes an end effector is in communication with the central processing unit. The central processing unit controls the robotic arm to remove a region of the target tooth. The system also simultaneously mills the final tooth restoration in a separate milling chamber.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . An apparatus for performing dental surgery on a subject, the apparatus comprising:
 a central processing unit that controls automated operation of the apparatus;   a display that renders an image of a target tooth requiring surgical intervention, the image of a target tooth being created from an image file received from the central processing unit;   an input device that receives surgical instructions from a user for providing the surgical intervention, the surgical instructions being received by the central processing unit, the surgical instructions including visual indications on the image of a target tooth that are to be treated; and   a robotic arm in communication with the central processing unit, the robot arm including an end effector for performing dental surgery, the central processing unit controlling the robotic arm to removes a region of the target tooth.   
     
     
         2 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising an encoder arm that tracks a subject's head motion and tooth motion. 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 2  wherein the encoder arm senses fast movements by the subject that trigger a shutdown procedure. 
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 2  wherein the encoder arm is operable to being shut down by the subject. 
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the end effector is a numerically controlled dental drill. 
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising static memory for storing patient profiles and records. 
     
     
         7 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the central processing unit renders a pictogram of all teeth in an upper and lower arch of the subject on the display. 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the central processing unit provides selection for teeth to place a modified rubber dam clamp on for a dental procedure and/or candidate teeth to scan. 
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1  further comprising a tooth scanner that transfers tooth image data to the central processing unit. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9  wherein the tooth scanner operates in a mode selected from the group consisting of surgical scan mode where a tooth requiring surgery and two adjacent teeth are imaged, occlusion scan mode in which teeth in an opposing arch of teeth that occlude with the teeth undergoing surgery, interdigitating scan in which a buccal/side scan mode with upper and lower teeth biting together are imaged to register how they fit together. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 9  wherein the central processing unit renders a three dimensional model of the target tooth using a deformable pre-surgical mesh, the deformable pre-surgical mesh being editable by the user to produce a representation of a post-surgical tooth mesh and corresponding final restoration. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11  wherein the three dimensional model includes a rendering of surgical criteria, the surgical criteria including occlusal contacts, proximal contacts, anatomical morphology of the target tooth, occlusal reduction, margin placement relative to biological width and proximal contacts, and an image of a bite-wing superimposed onto the pre-surgical mesh. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein the central processing unit is operable to display clinical information relevant to the surgical criteria. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 11  wherein a bitewing X-ray overlays the pre-surgical mesh, the user being able to re-contour the pre-surgical mesh to produce a post-surgical mesh which is a representation of a target restoration. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 14  wherein a restoration mesh is generated, the restoration mesh having an inner surface aligning to the postsurgical mesh and an outer surface representing a desired restoration. 
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 10  further comprising a density scanner that creates a voxel image representing density of teeth. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein the central processing unit is operable to control the robotic arm to mill internal surface and margins of a target tooth in accordance to region's identified by the user in the three dimensional model. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17  wherein the central processing unit is operable to delay milling until a tooth preparation shape is completed. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 17  wherein the robotic arm is operable to cut out an entire outline form shape as depicted by the user using digital brushes in the input device prior to starting surgery. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein the central processing unit is operable to create a three dimensional density matrix of a subject's tooth to be treated from data received from the tooth scanner. 
     
     
         21 . The apparatus of  claim 20  wherein the central processing unit is operable to identify volume units in the three dimensional density matrix, each volume unit associated with an identifier that characterizes a state of the tooth. 
     
     
         22 . The apparatus of  claim 21  wherein the central process unit is operable to direct the end effector of the robotic arm to cut a subject's the tooth in accordance to regions identified in the three dimensional density matrix. 
     
     
         23 . The apparatus of  claim 21  wherein the identifier indicates if a region in the tooth includes hard enamel, decayed enamel, hard dentin, decayed dentin, or a restorative material. 
     
     
         24 . The apparatus of  claim 21  wherein the central processing unit is operable to perform a predetermined treatment protocol on a volume unit depending on the identifier. 
     
     
         25 . The apparatus of  claim 24  wherein the predetermined treatment protocol includes parameters for adjusting milling speed, spindle speed of a bur in the end effector, and rate for moving the robotic arm. 
     
     
         26 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the robotic arm is a handheld device.