Orthodontic treatment planning based on reinforcement learning

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025072999-A1
Application number	US-202418818404-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Aug 28, 2024
Priority date	Aug 31, 2023
Publication date	Mar 6, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method comprises receiving, by a processing device, clinical data of a first state of one or more dental arches of a patient. The method further comprises determining, by the processing device, one or more stages of an orthodontic treatment plan for correcting the one or more dental arches based on processing of the clinical data. Determining a stage of the orthodontic treatment plan comprises determining one or more actions to be performed with respect to the one or more dental arches and determining a target state of the one or more dental arches that is predicted to result at least in part from the one or more actions.

First claim

1 . A system comprising:
a computing device comprising a memory and one or more processing devices, wherein the computing device is configured to: receive clinical data of a first state of one or more dental arches of a patient; and determine one or more stages of an orthodontic treatment plan for correcting the one or more dental arches based on processing of the clinical data, wherein determining a stage of the orthodontic treatment plan comprises:
determining one or more actions to be performed with respect to the one or more dental arches; and
determining a target state of the one or more dental arches that is predicted to result at least in part from the one or more actions.

2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
determine the orthodontic treatment plan comprising the one or more stages; determine one or more additional orthodontic treatment plans; output the orthodontic treatment plan and the one or more additional orthodontic treatment plans to a display; receive a selection of the orthodontic treatment plan; and implement the selected orthodontic treatment plan.

3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
determine, for the orthodontic treatment plan, a first score associated with predicted accomplishment of one or more target conditions by the orthodontic treatment plan; and determine, for each additional orthodontic treatment plan of the one or more additional orthodontic treatment plans, an additional score associated with accomplishment of the one or more target conditions by the additional orthodontic treatment plan.

4 . The system of claim 3 , wherein the first score and the additional scores of the one or more additional orthodontic treatment plans are output to the display.

5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the processing of the clinical data is performed using a trained machine learning model, wherein the trained machine learning model outputs the one or more actions and the target state of the one or more dental arches.

6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein the first state of the one or more dental arches is an intermediate state achieved by a previously determined orthodontic treatment plan, and wherein the computing device is further configured to:
receive information associated with the previously determined orthodontic treatment plan; determine a cost value or reward value based on a degree of similarity between the first state of the one or more dental arches and a predicted state of the one or more dental arches from the previously determined orthodontic treatment plan; and update a training of the trained machine learning model based on the cost value or reward value, wherein the processing of the clinical data using the trained machine learning model is performed after updating the training of the trained machine learning model.

7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the receiving of the clinical data and the determining of the one or more stages of the orthodontic treatment plan is performed prior to beginning orthodontic treatment of the one or more dental arches, and wherein the computing device is further configured to:
receive new clinical data of a new state of the one or more dental arches during an intermediate stage of the orthodontic treatment plan; and determine, with or without user input, one or more updated stages of the orthodontic treatment plan based on processing of the new clinical data.

8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the one or more updated stages comprise a final stage having a new target state of the one or more dental arches.

9 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
add one or more new intermediate stages to the orthodontic treatment plan in view of the new clinical data.

10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the clinical data comprises at least one a color two-dimensional (2D) image of the one or more dental arches, a three-dimensional (3D) model of each of the one or more dental arches, an intraoral scan of the one or more dental arches, or an x-ray image of the one or more dental arches.

11 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more actions comprise at least one of widening the one or more dental arches, adding one or more attachments to the one or more dental arches, extracting one or more teeth from the one or more dental arches, performing interproximal reduction for one or more teeth of the one or more dental arches, or securing the one or more dental arches to each other using elastics.

12 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more actions comprise adjusting at least one of a position or an orientation of one or more teeth on the one or more dental arches.

13 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more actions and the target state that are determined minimize at least one of a number of stages of the orthodontic treatment plan or a duration of orthodontic treatment performed according to the orthodontic treatment plan.

14 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
determine an occlusion type for the one or more dental arches based on processing of the clinical data, wherein the occlusion type comprises at least one of an open bite, a cross bite, or a deep bite; wherein the one or more actions are determined based at least in part on the occlusion type.

15 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
determine a type of malocclusion for the one or more dental arches based on processing of the clinical data; wherein the one or more actions are determined based at least in part on the type of malocclusion.

16 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the one or more dental arches comprise an upper dental arch of the patient, and wherein the computing device is further configured to:
receive clinical data of a first state of a lower dental arch of the patient; and determine one or more stages of an orthodontic treatment plan for correcting the lower dental arch based on processing of the clinical data, wherein determining a stage of the orthodontic treatment plan for correcting the lower dental arch comprises:
determining one or more additional actions to be performed with respect to the lower dental arch; and
determining a target state of the lower dental arch that is predicted to result at least in part from the one or more additional actions.

17 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device is further configured to:
determining a current relation between an upper dental arch of the one or more dental arches and a lower dental arch of the one or more dental arches, wherein determining the target state of the one or more dental arches that is predicted to result at least in part from the one or more actions comprises determining a target relation between the upper dental arch and the lower dental arch.

18 . The system of claim 1 , wherein determining the one or more actions to be performed with respect to the one or more dental arches comprises determining one or more restorative dental actions to be performed, the one or more restorative dental actions associated with one or more restorative options.

19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein:
the one or more restorative options comprise at least one of a) one or more allowable dimensions for use of a veneer, b) a type of veneer to use, or c) a veneer thickness; and the one or more restorative dental actions to be performed comprise an amount of tooth mass to

Assignees

• Align Technology Inc

Inventors

• Morton John Y
• Cramer Christopher E
• Brown Chad Clayton
• Kopelman Avi

Classifications

• G16H50/20

  for computer-aided diagnosis, e.g. based on medical expert systems · CPC title

• G16H30/40

  for processing medical images, e.g. editing · CPC title

• A61C7/08

  Mouthpiece-type retainers {or positioners, e.g. for both the lower and upper arch (arch-shaped medicament applicators for teeth or gums A61C19/063; mouthguards for protecting the teeth of sportsmen A63B71/085)} · CPC title

• G16H50/70

  for mining of medical data, e.g. analysing previous cases of other patients · CPC title

• A61C7/12

  Brackets; Arch wires; Combinations thereof; Accessories therefor · CPC title