公开(公告)号：EP1076531A4

公开(公告)日：2006-07-26

申请号：EP99921701

申请日：1999-05-05

Applicant: DENTECH LLC

Inventor： MORRIS ALAN C ,  MABRITO CRAIG A ,  ROBERTS MATTHEW R

IPC: A61C19/10 ,  G01J3/02 ,  G01J3/50 ,  A61C13/08

CPC classification number: G01J3/50 ,  A61C19/10 ,  G01J3/02 ,  G01J3/0264 ,  G01J3/463 ,  G01J3/508 ,  G01J3/524

Abstract: A patient's dental prosthesis (e.g., a prosthesis tooth, crown, veneer, or bridge) is made by acquiring an image (42) of the patient's teeth that contains black (54) and white (58) normalization references. These references are black, and white porcelain, for example, that allow software of the invention to determine absolute black and absolute white within the image. The image is then normalized in accordance with normalization references, which corrects the image for variations in lighting conditions and image source. The normalized image (60) is then standardized by matching the pixels of the normalized image (60) to selected shade standards (62). The dental prosthesis can then be manufactured by a lab technician by referring to the standardized image (66). The tooth shade analysis, and matching system is also applicable to direct restorations of natural teeth, such as repair of chipped or broken teeth.