Positioning Individual Three-dimensional Model Teeth Based On Two-dimensional

Images

DOCUMENT ID DATE PUBLISHED

INVENTOR INFORMATION
NAME CITY STATE ZIP CODE COUNTRY Amelon; Ryan
Nashville
TN N/A US Lafer; Jared Nashville TN
N/A US Jones; Nashville TN N/A
Ramsey US Wucher; Tim Windhoek
N/A N/A NA Katzman; Nashville TN
Jordan N/A US
Chobanyan; Nashville TN N/A US
Martin

ASSIGNEE INFORMATION
NAME CITY STATE ZIP CODE COUNTRY TYPE CODE
SDC U.S. Nashville TN N/A US 02
SmilePay SPV
APPLICATION NO DATE FILED
17/831587 2022-06-03

US CLASS CURRENT:

700/213,700/98

CPC CURRENT
TYPE CPC DATE
CPCI G 06 T 7/136 2017-01-01
CPCI G 16 H 30/40 2018-01-01
CPCI G 06 T 5/20 2013-01-01
CPCI G 06 T 7/0014 2013-01-01
CPCI G 06 T 7/70 2017-01-01
CPCI A 61 C 7/002 2013-01-01
CPCI G 06 T 17/20 2013-01-01
CPCA G 06 T 2207/30036 2013-01-01
CPCA G 06 T 2207/20081 2013-01-01
CPCA A 61 C 2007/004 2013-01-01
CPCA G 06 T 2210/41 2013-01-01

KWIC Hits

Abstract

Systems and methods for generating a 3D model of a dentition are disclosed herein. A method
includes generating a first 3D model of a dentition including a plurality of model teeth. The method
includes receiving at least one digital representation comprising patient teeth. The method includes
determining a virtual camera parameter. The virtual camera parameter corresponds with a camera
used to capture the digital representation. The method includes comparing, based on the virtual
camera parameter, a first position of a model tooth with a position of a corresponding patient tooth of
the digital representation. The method includes moving the model tooth from the first position to a
second position. The second position is based on the position of the corresponding patient tooth. The
method includes generating a second 3D model comprising the model tooth of the first 3D model in
the second position.

Background/Summary

TECHNICAL FIELD

(1) The present disclosure relates generally to the field of dental imaging and treatment, and more
specifically, to systems and methods for generating a digital dentition model.

BACKGROUND

(2) Orthodontic treatment is often used to reposition a patient's teeth. Monitoring the patient's teeth
during treatment ensures the teeth move as expected to a desired position. In-person appointments
are inconvenient and time consuming, and specialized equipment for monitoring treatment can be
expensive or difficult to correctly use.

SUMMARY

(3) In one aspect, this disclosure is directed to a method. The method includes generating, by one or
more processors, a first 3D model of a dentition. The dentition includes a plurality of model teeth. The
method includes receiving, by the one or more processors, at least one digital representation
comprising a plurality of patient teeth. The method includes determining, by the one or more
processors, a virtual camera parameter associated with a virtual camera. The virtual camera
parameter corresponds with a parameter of a camera used to capture the at least one digital
representation. The method includes comparing, by the one or more processors based on the virtual
camera parameter, a first position of a model tooth of the first 3D model with a position of a
corresponding patient tooth of the at least one digital representation. The method includes moving, by
the one or more processors, the model tooth of the first 3D model from the first position to a second
position, wherein the second position is based on the positon of the corresponding patient tooth. The
method includes generating, by the one or more processors, a second 3D model comprising the model
tooth of the first 3D model in the second position.

(4) In one aspect, this disclosure is directed to a system. The system includes a processor and a
memory. The memory is coupled with the processor. The memory is configured to store instructions
that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to generate a first 3D model of a dentition.
The dentition includes a plurality of model teeth. The instructions cause the processor to receive at
least one digital representation comprising a plurality of patient teeth. The instructions cause the
processor to determine a virtual camera parameter associated with a virtual camera. The virtual
camera parameter corresponds with a parameter of a camera used to capture the at least one digital
representation. The instructions cause the processor to compare, based on the virtual camera
parameter, a first position of a model tooth of the first 3D model with a position of a corresponding
patient tooth of the at least one digital representation. The instructions cause the processor to move
the model tooth of the first 3D model from the first position to the second position. The second position
is based on the position of the corresponding patient tooth. The instructions cause the processor to
generate a second 3D model comprising the model tooth of the first 3D model in the second position.

(5) In yet another aspect, this disclosure is directed to a non-transitory computer readable medium that
stores instructions. The instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or
more processors to generate a first 3D model of a dentition. The dentition includes a plurality of model
teeth. The instructions cause the one or more processors to receive at least one digital representation
comprising a plurality of patient teeth. The instructions cause the one or more processors to determine
a virtual camera parameter associated with a virtual camera. The virtual camera parameter
corresponds with a parameter of a camera used to capture the at least one digital representation. The
instructions cause the one or more processors to compare, based on the virtual camera parameter, a
first position of a model tooth of the first 3D model with a position of a corresponding patient tooth of
the at least one digital representation. The instructions cause the one or more processors to move the
model tooth of the first 3D model from the first position to a second position. The second position is
based on the actual relative 3D position of the corresponding patient tooth as reflected in the images.
The instructions cause the one or more processors to generate a second 3D model comprising the
model tooth of the first 3D model in the second position.

(6) Various other embodiments and aspects of the disclosure will become apparent based on the
drawings and detailed description of the following disclosure.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of a system for dental modeling, according to an illustrative
embodiment.

(2) FIG. 2 shows a 3D model of a dentition, according to an illustrative embodiment.

(3) FIG. 3 shows a digital representation, according to various illustrative embodiments.

(4) FIG. 4 shows a digital representation, according to an illustrative embodiment.

(5) FIG. 5 shows an extrinsic virtual camera parameter, according to various illustrative embodiments.

(6) FIG. 6 shows an extrinsic virtual camera parameter, according to various illustrative embodiments.

(7) FIG. 7 shows an intrinsic virtual camera parameter, according to various illustrative embodiments.

(8) FIG. 8 shows dentition data disposed in a normalized device coordinate space, according to an
illustrative embodiment.

(9) FIG. 9 shows a tooth movement of a model tooth of a 3D model, according to an illustrative
embodiment.

(10) FIG. 10 shows a diagram of a method of generating a 3D model of a dentition, according to an

(11) FIG. 11 shows a diagram of a method of generating a 3D model dentition, according to an

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

(12) Before turning to the figures, which illustrate certain example embodiments in detail, it should be
understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the details or methodology set forth in the
description or illustrated in the figures. It should also be understood that the terminology used herein is
for the purpose of description only and should not be regarded as limiting.

(13) Referring generally to the figures, described herein are systems and methods for generating a 3D
model of a patient's dentition. The systems and methods disclosed herein may be used for purposes
of monitoring orthodontic treatment, as well as creation of new treatment plans including, for example,
treatment plans for refinements, mid-course corrections, or touch-ups. According to various
embodiments, a computing device analyzes one or more digital representations of a dentition (e.g., a
2D image, a plurality of 2D images, a video, a mesh, tabular data, etc.) to determine a position of at
least one tooth of the dentition. The digital representation may be captured while the patient is
undergoing orthodontic treatment or after the patient has undergone orthodontic treatment. For
example, a patient may use an intraoral device (e.g., dental aligner, retainer, braces, etc.) to move at
least one tooth from a first position to a second position, or to retain the position of the tooth in the
case of a retainer. Based on the position of the at least one tooth from the digital representation, the
computing device can move a model tooth of a 3D digital model of a dentition to a position
corresponding to the position of the at least one tooth from the digital representation. For example, the
computing device may generate a first 3D digital model of a dentition with model teeth in a first
position. The first 3D model may correspond with the patient or may be a template model. The
computing system may receive a 2D image of the patient's tooth in a position. Based on the 2D image,
the computing system can move a corresponding tooth of the 3D digital model from the first position to
a second position to represent the position of the patient's tooth from the 2D image. The position of the
patient's tooth may be an actual relative 3D position of the patient tooth as reflected in the 2D image.

(14) The technical solutions of the systems and methods disclosed herein improve the technical field
of monitoring a patient's dentition and the movement of the patient's teeth due to natural causes or
due to orthodontic treatment and devices and the technology associated therewith. For example, in
various embodiments, the accuracy, speed, and efficiency of generating a 3D digital model of a
patient's dentition is improved. The efficiency is improved by using less data than traditional imaging
and monitoring processes and by using data that is captured by the patient instead of captured by a
dental professional (e.g., a dental technician, a dentist or orthodontist, or other staff member) at an in-
person office visit. For example, the 3D digital model can be based on a template model eliminating
the need to obtain data associated with the patient from two separate time periods. Additionally, the
data associated with the patient used to generate the 3D model can be captured via a user device
associated with the patient (e.g., a camera of a smart phone). This eliminates the need for expensive
equipment such as x-rays and intraoral scanners and the need for the patient to visit a professional's
office to gather the data necessary to generate the 3D model. The speed of generating models is
improved by analyzing all data that is relevant to indicate new positions of teeth. Simultaneous
incorporation of all relevant data from multiple sources improves and allows for more informed
assessment of teeth positions which leads to a more efficient (therefore, faster) algorithm. For
example, a plurality of images may be received from a patient from different imaging angles and
combined with prior information about anticipated teeth movements to better govern updating the 3D
tooth model. Further, the system does not waste time analyzing images that do not show the
corresponding patient tooth, that are too blurry or otherwise obscure the patient tooth, or that only
include data that was already provided by a different image (e.g., a duplicate). The accuracy is
improved by focusing the analysis and computations on data that is clear and directed toward the
immediate task and removing or ignoring data that may differ from or contradict other data. Accuracy is
also improved by iteratively solving for a position of a patient tooth shown in a 2D image to account for
any distortion, perspective, etc. of the device that captured the image. This ensures the position of the
model tooth in the 3D model matches the position of the corresponding tooth from the 2D images.

(15) Furthermore, receiving 2D images from a camera and using only those images that are relevant
and useful to the task being performed reduces the computational load on the system and reduces the
memory space used to perform the tasks. For example, the computational load is reduced by reducing
the amount of data analyzed. Instead of large comprehensive scan files and x-ray files, the system
disclosed herein can use 2D images obtained by the patient's own smartphone, including 2D images
obtained from videos. Instead of analyzing every image received for determining the location of each
tooth, a subset of the images are used based on relevancy, quality, duplicity, etc. The memory space
used is reduced by using smaller data files (e.g., 2D image vs. x-ray image, etc.) and deleting or
removing data from the system that is not relevant or useful.

(16) Additional benefits of the technical solutions disclosed herein include, but are not limited to,
enabling a user to determine when individual teeth are or are not moving (e.g., tooth ankylosis),
detecting unwanted tooth movements, and generating an accurate 3D model of a patient's dentition
that can be used for various purposes. For example, the 3D model can be used for monitoring a
treatment plan, creating a new treatment plan (e.g., refinements, mid-course corrections, touch-ups,
etc.), and generating new data that can be used to refine and adapt current protocols for creating new
treatment plans. Furthermore, all of this can be done without the need for specialized hardware. For
example, a user device (e.g., smartphone) capable of capturing an image can be used to generate the
3D model. The systems and methods disclosed herein require no specialized machines or equipment
apart from a smartphone or digital camera. For example, this solution requires no use of x-ray
machines, intraoral scanners, impression kits, monitoring scan boxes, etc. The systems and methods
also require no specialized training or expertise from a patient or user of the system. The systems and
methods also require no knowledge of a treatment plan to generate the 3D model of the patient's
dentition. This solution allows treatment progress to be determined remotely and increases patient
engagement during the treatment by keeping the user informed (e.g., more frequent status updates
regarding tooth movement) and simplifying the process (e.g., no trips to the dentist's office).

(17) Referring to FIG. 1, a dental modeling computing system 100 for generating a digital
representation of a patient's dentition is shown, according to an exemplary embodiment. The dental
modeling computing system 100 is shown to include a processing engine 101. Processing engine 101
may include a memory 102 and a processor 104. The memory 102 (e.g., memory, memory unit,
storage device) may include one or more devices (e.g., RAM, ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, optical disk
storage, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, flash memory, hard disk storage, or
any other medium) for storing data and/or computer code for completing or facilitating the various
processes, layers, and circuits described in the present disclosure. The memory 102 may be or
include transitory memory or non-transitory memory, and may include database components, object
code components, script components, or any other type of information structure for supporting the
various activities and information structures described in the present disclosure. According to an
illustrative embodiment, the memory 102 is communicably connected with the processor 104 and
includes computer code for executing (e.g., by the processor 104) the processes described herein.

(18) The processor 104 may be a general purpose single-chip or multi-chip processor, a digital signal
processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array
(FPGA), or other programmable logic device, discrete gate or transistor logic, discrete hardware
components, or any combination thereof designed to perform the functions described herein. A general
purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller,
or state machine. The processor 104 may also be implemented as a combination of computing
devices, such as a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, a plurality of microprocessors, one or
more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. In some
embodiments, particular processes and methods may be performed by circuitry that is specific to a
given function.

(19) The dental modeling computing system 100 may include various modules or be comprised of a
system of processing engines. The processing engine 101 may be configured to implement the
instructions and/or commands described herein with respect to the processing engines. The
processing engines may be or include any device(s), component(s), circuit(s), or other combination of
hardware components designed or implemented to receive inputs for and/or automatically generate
outputs based on an initial digital representation of an intraoral device. As shown in FIG. 1, in some
embodiments, the dental modeling computing system 100 may include a model generation engine
106, a digital representation processing engine 108, a virtual camera processing engine 110, and a
tooth positioning engine 112. While these engines 106-112 are shown in FIG. 1, it is noted that the
dental modeling computing system 100 may include any number of processing engines, including
additional engines which may be incorporated into, supplement, or replace one or more of the engines
shown in FIG. 1.

(20) Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to
generate a 3D model (e.g., a 3D digital model) of a dentition. For example, model generation engine
106 may be configured to generate a 3D model 200 of a dentition. The 3D model 200 may include a
plurality of model teeth 202. The 3D model 200 may include a mesh for a base of the dentition (e.g.,
the gingiva). The 3D model 200 may include an individual mesh for each individual model tooth 202.
The one or more individual model teeth 202 may be based on either a template model (e.g., indicate a
generic orientation of a dentition not associated with a patient) or may be based on an actual shape of
a patient's dentition (e.g., indicate an actual orientation of a patient's dentition at some point in time).
For example, a geometry of a model tooth 202 may be based on previously obtained data from the
patient, including but not limited to a 3D scan, an impression, or a picture of the patient's dentition. In
another example, the geometry of the model tooth 202 may be based on a template model dentition.
For example, memory 102 may include a template dentition library. The template dentition library may
include template data of a dentition. For example, the template dentition library may include at least
one template model dentition with a template geometry that includes template model teeth 202 with
template geometries or data regarding a template dentition (e.g., images, dimensions, geometries,
scans, treatment plans, etc. of the template dentition). The template may be obtained from a single
case library look-up, or may be based on individual teeth positions using historic treatment plan data.
As described herein, the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to determine an
actual geometry of a patient tooth. As the geometry of a patient tooth is determined, the model
generation engine 106 may be configured to modify the shape of the template model tooth 202 to
better resemble the actual geometry of the patient tooth. This can be performed for any number of
template model teeth.

(21) In some embodiments, the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to segment
the 3D digital model of the dentition. For example, the model generation engine 106 may be
configured to segment 3D digital model 200 of the dentition. For example, 3D digital model 200 may
include a plurality of model teeth 202. Model generation engine 106 may be configured to identify
individual model teeth 202 of the 3D digital model 200. The model generation engine 106 may assign
a label 204 to each model tooth 202. For example, the label 204 may include tooth numbers according
to, for example, FDI World Dental Federation notation, the universal numbering system, Palmer
notation, or any other labeling/naming convention.

(22) Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 3, the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to
receive at least one digital representation 116 of a dentition. For example, digital representation
processing engine 108 of the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to receive at
least one digital representation 116 of a dentition. The dentition may be associated with a patient. The
digital representation 116 may include data corresponding to a plurality of patient teeth. For example,
the digital representation 116 may be a 2D image, a video, a mesh, tabular data, or population-level
information about most probable tooth movements, among others. The 2D image and video may be
captured by any device capable of capturing images and videos (e.g., a smart phone). The tabular
data may include, for example, a patient's subjective assessment of dental aligner fit. In some
embodiments, the digital representation processing engine 108 may receive a plurality of digital
representations 116. The plurality of digital representations 116 may include at least one of a plurality
of individually taken images or a video. For example, the digital representation processing engine 108
may receive a plurality of 2D images. In some embodiments, the plurality of digital representations 116
may include images of the same dentition from different perspectives. In some embodiments, the
plurality of digital representations 116 may include images of the same dentition with different
expressions. For example, a digital representation processing engine 108 may receive a first 2D
image including a perspective view 302 of the dentition. The digital representation processing engine
108 may receive a second 2D image including a full front view 304 of the dentition. The full front view
304, for example, may include both top and bottom teeth of the dentition. For example, a patient may
use a lip retractor (e.g., a dental appliance, patient's fingers, household items, etc.) such that all teeth,
and all visible portions of the teeth that are visible from a front view are shown in the second 2D
image. The dental appliance can be configured to hold open the user's upper and lower lips
simultaneously to permit visualization of the user's teeth and further configured to continue holding
open the user's upper and lower lips in a hands-free manner after being positioned at least partially
within the user's mouth. The dental appliance can include a single handle having two ends and a pair
of flanges at each end of the handle, each pair of flanges can be U-shaped, thereby forming a cavity
between the flanges, and each cavity can be configured to receive a portion of the user's upper and
lower lips. The handle can be arch-shaped such that when the dental appliance is positioned at least
partially within the user's mouth to hold open the user's upper and lower lips the handle does not
obstruct the user's open mouth such that the handle does not obstruct any of the user's teeth when
one or more photos are taken of the user's mouth from a front view. A length of the handle, a size of
the flanges, and a size of each cavity between the flanges can be adjustable or non-adjustable. The
dental appliance can be formed as a single unitary component or made up of separate and discrete
components.

(23) The digital representation processing engine 108 may receive a third 2D image including a partial
front view 306 of the dentition. The partial front view 306, for example, may include only the top or only
the bottom teeth of the dentition. The digital representation processing engine 108 may be configured
to receive any number and any combination of digital representations 116 of the dentition. In some
embodiments, the digital representation processing engine 108 may receive a video of a plurality of
patient teeth. The digital representation processing engine 108 may be configured to transform the
video into a plurality of 2D images.

(24) The digital representation processing engine 108 may be configured to receive the at least one
digital representation 116 from an external computing system, such as user device 114. Examples of
the user device 114 may include, but are not limited to, a mobile phone a tablet computer, a laptop
computer, a smart watch, or any other internet-connected device. The user device 114 can be a
personal user device 114 of a patient. For example, the user device 114 can be the patient's own
mobile phone. The user device 114 may be configured to capture the digital representation 116. For
example, the user device 114 may include a camera configured to capture a 2D image. The user
device 114 may be configured to transmit the digital representation 116 and the digital representation
processing engine 108 may be configured to receive the digital representation 116 from the user
device 114. The user device 114 may capture digital representations 116 by using similar processes to
those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 17/581,811, titled “Machine Learning Architecture
for Imaging Protocol Detector,” filed Jan. 21, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated herein by
reference in its entirety.

(25) The user device 114 may be configured to send communications to, and receive communications
from, a cloud server. The user device 114 may communicate to, and receive communications from the
cloud server by using similar processes to those described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.
16/711,173, titled “Scanning Device,” filed Dec. 11, 2019, the contents of which are incorporated
herein by reference in its entirety. For example, the user device 114 can communicate information
regarding images captured or received from other computing devices to the cloud server such that the
cloud server can perform further operations. The user device 114 can communicate with the cloud
server in a variety of ways including, but not limited to, Bluetooth, a WiFi network, a wired local area
network (LAN), Zigbee, or any other suitable way for devices to exchange information. In some
embodiments, the user device 114 includes a radiofrequency transceiver to communicate with one or
more radio towers to transmit and/or receive information using radio waves. In some embodiments,
the radiofrequency transceiver includes a single band transceiver. In some embodiments, the
radiofrequency transceiver includes a dual band transceiver.

(26) The cloud server may be communicably coupled to the user device 114. In addition to being
communicably coupled to the user device 114, the cloud server can be communicably coupled to a
plurality of user devices 114. The cloud server may be configured to receive digital representations
116 from the user device 114 and perform additional operations on the data in order to prepare the
digital representations to send to the dental modeling computing system 100. The additional
operations the cloud server can perform include, but are not limited to, high-resolution reconstruction
of digital representations 116 and converting the digital representation 116 to one or more 3D images.
The cloud server can communicate the results of the additional operations to the dental modeling
computing system 100.

(27) In addition, the cloud server may be configured to analyze the data received from the plurality of
user devices 114 to which the cloud server is communicably coupled, and provide the output of the
analysis to the dental modeling computing system 100 via the user device 114. For example, the cloud
server may determine, based on the analysis of a plurality of digital representations, that patients must
hold a camera within a certain angular tolerance. The cloud server can provide that information to user
device 114 such that patient can capture digital representations 116 from the proper orientation. The
dental modeling computing system 100 may also be communicably coupled to the cloud server and
may be configured to receive the digital representations 116 from the cloud server and generate one
or more 3D models based on the digital representations 116.

(28) A tower network may include a plurality of towers. The towers can be referred to as cellular
towers, radio towers, base stations, base transceiver stations, etc., and include equipment for cellular
communication. For example, the towers may include various antennae, transmitters, receivers,
transceivers, digital signal processors, control electronics, global positioning receivers, and electrical
power sources. The towers may be configured such that each of the towers can send and receive
signals within a specified area (e.g., a cell). Typically, the area in which each of the towers can send
and receive signals is shaped approximately like a hexagon. For example, a first tower can send and
receive signals (e.g., data) within a first area, a second tower can send and receive signals within a
second area, and a third tower can send and receive signals within a third area. To send a signal from
an originating location to a destination location, each tower can send a signal to a tower within an
adjacent area. For example, the first tower can send a signal to the second tower when the first area is
adjacent to the second area.

(29) The user device 114 may transmit signals (e.g., radio signals containing data related to a digital
representation 116) to communicate with the cloud server. For example, when the user device 114 is
within the first area, the signal reaches the first tower. From the first tower, the signal may be sent to
the second tower because the first area is adjacent to the second area, and from the second tower the
signal may be sent to the third tower because the second area is adjacent to the third area.

(30) In some embodiments, the signals sent by the user device 114 include multiple digital signals,
multiple analog signals, or a combination of multiple digital and analog signals. In such embodiments,
the multiple signals are combined into one signal using multiplexing protocols to reduce the resources
required to send the signal. In an example embodiment, frequency division multiplexing (FDM) can be
used to combine the signals. In FDM, each user is assigned a different frequency from the complete
frequency spectrum such that all frequencies can travel simultaneously. In another example
embodiment, time division multiplexing (TDM) can be used to combine the signals. In TDM, a single
radio frequency is divided into multiple slots and each slot is assigned to a different user such that
multiple users can be supported simultaneously. In yet another example embodiment, code division
multiplexing (CDMA) can be used to combine the signals. In CDMA, several users share the same
frequency spectrum simultaneously and are differentiated via unique codes assigned to each user.
The receiver is supplied with the unique keys such that the user can be identified by the receiver.

(31) In some embodiments, the signal is sent via a packet switching process. In a packet switching
process, the signal (e.g., the data being sent) is divided into smaller parts called packets. The packets
are then sent individually from the source (e.g., the user device 114) to the destination (e.g., the cloud
server). In some embodiments, each packet can follow a different path to the destination, and the
packets can arrive out of order at the destination, where the packets are assembled in order (e.g., a
datagram approach). In some embodiments, each packet follows the same path to the destination,
and the packets arrive in the correct order (e.g., a virtual circuit approach).

(32) Accordingly, any data acquired by the user device 114 can be communicated to the cloud server
or the dental modeling computing system 100 by way of or not by way of a cloud server using the
tower network. In some embodiments, the processes performed by dental modeling computing system
100 can be performed by the cloud server. In some embodiments, any data acquired by the user
device 114 can be communicated using one or more towers of the tower network. For example, digital
representation 116 of the user's teeth captured by the user device 114 can be communicated to the
cloud server or the dental modeling computing system 100 by way of one or more towers of the tower
network. Additionally, digital representations of the user's teeth captured by the user device 114 can be
communicated directly to other locations (e.g., the office of a dental professional, etc.) by way of one
or more of the towers for diagnostic purposes, treatment purposes, or any other purpose. In some
cases, communicating digital representation data over the tower network is advantageous over other
methods of communication. For example, the digital representation data can be more efficiently
communicated when broken up into smaller sized packets or smaller file sizes and separately
communicated over the tower network rather than being communicated in a large file size or larger
packets when using other methods of communication.

(33) In some embodiments, the digital representation processing engine 108 may be configured to
filter the digital representations 116. For example, the digital representation processing engine 108
may receive a plurality of digital representations 116. The digital representation processing engine 108
may be configured to designate a subset of the digital representations 116 as at least one of useful or
not useful. For example, a digital representation 116 designated as useful may be focused (e.g., clear,
not blurry) such that the digital representation processing engine 108 may clearly identify individual
teeth. A digital representation 116 designated as not useful may be out of focus or too blurry to
distinguish between teeth. In some embodiments, a digital representation 116 designated as not useful
may include teeth that are not going to be analyzed by the digital representation processing engine
108. For example, when the digital representation processing engine 108 is to analyze a bottom jaw of
a patient, digital representations 116 including only teeth of the top jaw can be designated as not
useful. In some embodiments, a digital representation 116 designated as not useful may be a
duplicate of another digital representation 116. A duplicate digital representation 116 may include
substantially the same information as another digital representation 116. For example, a first digital
representation 116 may include the same perspective, expression, camera parameter (described in
more detail below), etc., or any combination thereof as a second digital representation 116. A digital
representation 116 may be designated as a duplicate when the digital representation processing
engine 108 determines that information from a first digital representation 116 can be obtained from a
second digital representation 116. The digital representation processing engine 108 may be configured
to apply a threshold to determine whether a digital representation 116 is a duplicate. For example, if a
predetermined percentage (e.g., 90%) of the information from a first digital representation 116 can be
obtained from a second digital representation 116, the digital representation processing engine 108
may determine the first digital representation 116 is a duplicate.

(34) The digital representation processing engine 108 may be configured to ignore the subset of the
plurality of digital representations 116 designated as not useful. In one embodiment, the digital
representation processing engine 108 may be configured to store the subset of the plurality of digital
representations 116 that are designated as not useful in the memory 102 of the dental modeling
computing system 100. The dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to perform
further analysis, computations, processing, etc. on the subset designated as useful while not
performing the analysis, computations, processing, etc., on the subset designated as not useful. For
example, the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to determine a second
position of a model tooth based on the subset of the plurality of digital representations associated with
the corresponding patient tooth. This technological solution reduces the computational bandwidth
needed to perform the methods disclosed herein by reducing the quantity of computations the dental
modeling computing system 100 performs by reducing the number of digital representations 116 the
dental modeling computing system 100 analyzes, processes, computes, etc.

(35) In other embodiments, the digital representation processing engine 108 may be configured to
delete or remove the subset of the plurality of digital representations 116 that are designated as not
useful. For example, the digital representation processing engine 108 can remove the subset of the
plurality of digital representations 116 that are designated as not useful from the dental modeling
computing system 100. Along with reducing the computational bandwidth needed to perform the
methods disclose herein, this technological solution reduces the amount of storage needed to store
and analyze the digital representations 116 by removing the not useful digital representations 116 from
the system.

(36) Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 4, the digital representation processing engine 108 may be
configured to segment teeth from the digital representation 116. Similar to the segmentation described
with reference to FIG. 2 regarding the 3D digital model 200, the digital representation processing
engine 108 may be configured to segment the digital representation 116. For example, the digital
representation 116 can be a 2D image of a patient's dentition. The 2D image may include a plurality of
patient teeth 402. The digital representation processing engine 108 may be configured to identify the
individual patient teeth 402 of the 2D image. The digital representation processing engine 108 may
assign a label 404 to each individual patient tooth 402. The digital representation processing engine
108 may apply a labeling convention to the patient teeth based on the labeling convention applied by
the model generation engine 106 to the model teeth 202 (e.g., the model teeth 202 are labeled
according to the same labeling convention as the patient teeth 402).

(37) In some embodiments, the digital representation processing engine 108 may be configured to
organize or classify a plurality of digital representations 116 based on content of each of the plurality of
digital representations 116. For example, the digital representation processing engine 108 may
associate a subset of the plurality of digital representations 116 with a corresponding patient tooth 402.
For example, the digital representation processing engine 108 may identify the subset of the plurality
of digital representations 116. The subset of the plurality of digital representations 116 may include the
digital representations 116 that show a first patient tooth 402. In some embodiments, the digital
representation processing engine 108 may associate a digital representation 116 including the first
patient tooth 402 with the first patient tooth 402. In some embodiments, the subset of the plurality of
digital representations 116 may include the digital representations 116 that show a predetermined
portion of the first patient tooth 402. The digital representation processing engine 108 may associate
the digital representation 116 with the first patient tooth 402 if at least the predetermined portion of the
first patient tooth 402 is shown in the digital representation 116. The predetermined portion may be
configured to identify digital representations 116 wherein the patient tooth 402 is unobstructed enough
to obtain positioning data of the patient tooth 402. For example, the digital representation processing
engine 108 may associate the digital representation 116 with the first patient tooth 402 if fifty percent
of a face of the first patient tooth 402 is visible. However, it will be appreciated that the percentage can
be any predefined number (e.g., ten percent, twenty percent, fifty percent, seventy percent, ninety
percent, etc.). In another example, the digital representation processing engine 108 may associate the
digital representation 116 with the first patient tooth 402 if 50 mm.sup.2 of the first patient tooth 402 is
visible. However, it will be appreciated that the surface area can be any predefined number (e.g., 5
mm.sup.2, 10 mm.sup.2, 20 mm.sup.2, 30 mm.sup.2, 50.sup.2, 80 mm.sup.2, etc.). For example,
referring to FIG. 4, the digital representation processing engine 108 may associate the digital
representation 116 with Tooth 8 since a whole front surface of Tooth 8 is visible. The digital
representation processing engine 108 may not associate the digital representation 116 with Tooth 14
because only a small portion of Tooth 14 is visible. However, referring to FIG. 3, the digital
representation processing engine 108 may associate perspective view 302 with Tooth 14 since a
majority of the surface of Tooth 14 is visible. Associating a subset of the plurality of digital
representations 116 with a patient tooth 402 can reduce the quantity of calculations the digital
representation processing engine 108 performs when determining a position of the patient tooth 402
by reducing the number of digital representations 116 to be analyzed and removing digital
representations 116 that may provide contradictory or unhelpful positioning data.

(38) In some embodiments, the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to
associate a model tooth 202 with a patient tooth 402. For example, the digital representation
processing engine 108 of the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to associate
a model tooth 202 with a patient tooth 402. Based on the segmentation of the 3D digital model 200
and the digital representation 116, the digital representation processing engine 108 may associate a
model tooth 202 with a patient tooth 402 that has a corresponding label 204, 404. For example, the
digital representation processing engine 108 may associate Model Tooth 22 with Patient Tooth 22. In
some embodiments, the digital representation processing engine 108 can detect when the digital
representation 116 is segmented incorrectly. For example, the digital representation 116 may be blurry
such that the digital representation processing engine 108 cannot identify a space between two patient
teeth 402, resulting in the digital representation processing engine 108 identifying the two patient teeth
402 as a single patient tooth 402. The digital representation processing engine 108 may detect an
incorrect segmentation and reject the label 204 if the label 204 falls outside of population norms (e.g.,
corresponds with a tooth that is too large or too small for the location), if the classifier likelihood for
detection is too low, or because the label does not overlap well with a corresponding object in a
projected 3D mesh. For example, to correctly label the digital representation 116, the digital
representation processing engine 108 may be configured to overlay the 3D digital model 200 (e.g., a
3D mesh) with the digital representation 116. The digital representation processing engine 108 may be
configured to project a label from the 3D digital model 200 on to the digital representation 116. The
digital representation processing engine 108 may be configured to reject a label in the digital
representation 116 if the correspondence of the digital representation 116 with the projected 3D model
200 is sufficiently poor (e.g., the objects do not overlap or overlap very little). If a label is wrong, but
overlaps sufficiently with a different model tooth 202 in the projected 3D mesh, the digital
representation processing engine 108 may determine that the label is correct for the different object.
The digital representation processing engine 108 may label the digital representation 116 based on the
label(s) of the 3D digital model 200.

(39) In some embodiments, the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to
designate a feature of a digital representation 116 as an obstruction. For example, the digital
representation processing engine 108 of the dental modeling computing system 100 may be
configured to designate a feature of the digital representation 116 as an obstruction. An obstruction
may be a feature of the digital representation 116 that blocks a view of a portion of the patient
dentition. The feature may not directly affect or participate in the positioning of patient teeth. For
example, an obstruction can include lips, tongue, a dental appliance, fingers, or other elements that
may be captured in the digital representation 116 but does not engage in the positioning of the teeth.
The dental appliance can be configured to hold open the user's upper and lower lips simultaneously to
permit visualization of the user's teeth and further configured to continue holding open the user's upper
and lower lips in a hands-free manner after being positioned at least partially within the user's mouth
so that the patient or a third party is able to capture digital representations of the patient's teeth. As
explained in more detail below, the features designated as obstructions may affect the movement, and
specifically penalties applied to the movement, of the model teeth 202 of the 3D digital model 200.

(40) Referring now to FIGS. 1, and 5-7, the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured
determine at least one virtual camera parameter associated with a virtual camera. The virtual camera
parameter may include at least one value that is representative of a setting of a virtual camera. The
virtual camera parameter may correspond with a parameter of a device (e.g., a camera of user device
114) used to capture a digital representation 116. For example, a virtual camera parameter may
include an extrinsic parameter and/or an intrinsic parameter. Extrinsic parameters may correspond
with a position and/or orientation of the virtual camera. For example, an extrinsic parameter may
define at least one of a translational matrix or a rotational matrix of a camera of a user device 114. For
example, for the translational matrix, the extrinsic parameter may define a location of the camera when
the digital representation was captured. For example, the user device 114 may be aligned with or have
an offset from a centerline of the patient's dentition. FIG. 5 shows a plurality of examples of virtual
camera parameters. The virtual camera parameters may be associated with locations at which a
camera of the user device 114 can be when capturing a digital representation 116. For example, when
at position 502, the camera may have an offset 518 (e.g., be vertically above) from a horizontal
centerline 514 of the patient's dentition. At position 504, the user device 114 may be in line with (have
no offset 518) the horizontal centerline 514. At position 506, the camera may have an offset 518 (e.g.,
be vertically below) the horizontal centerline 514. At position 508, the camera may have an offset 518
(e.g., to the left) from a vertical centerline 516 of the patient's dentition. At position 510, the camera
may be aligned with (have no offset 518) the vertical centerline 516. At position 512, the camera may
have an offset 518 (e.g., to the right) from the vertical centerline 516.

(41) In some embodiments, for the rotational matrix, the extrinsic parameter may define an orientation
(e.g., an angle) of a camera of the user device 114. For example, the camera may be parallel with or
set at an angle from a center plane of the patient's dentition. FIG. 6 shows a plurality of examples of
virtual camera parameters. The virtual camera parameters may be associated with orientations at
which the camera may be when capturing a digital representation 116. For example, at position 602,
the camera may be rotated downward at an angle 618 from horizontal plane 614 defined by the
patient's dentition. At position 604, the camera may be angled parallel with the horizontal plane 614. At
position 606, the camera may be rotated upward at an angle 618 from the horizontal plane 614. At
position 608, the camera may be rotated to the right at an angle 618 from the vertical plane 616. At
position 610, the camera may be angled parallel with the horizontal plane 614. At position 612, the
camera may be rotated to the left at an angle 618 from the vertical plane 616.
(42) Intrinsic parameters may correspond with how the virtual camera manipulates a digital
representation 116. For example, an intrinsic parameter may define at least one of a perspective or a
distortion of a camera (e.g., a camera of a user device 114). For example, a camera may be
configured to distort a digital representation 116 wherein the data captured in the digital representation
116 deviates from reality (e.g., straight lines in reality become curved lines in the digital representation
116). FIG. 7 shows an undistorted image 702, a pincushion distortion image 704, and a barrel
distortion image 706. The camera may apply a pincushion distortion to a digital representation 116
such that lines that do not run through a center if the digital representation is bowed inward toward the
center of the digital representation 116. The camera may apply a barrel distortion to the digital
representation 116 such that image magnification decreases with distance away from an optical axis.
The camera may apply any variation and combination of distortions to the digital representation 116.
The application of a distortion to a digital representation 116 may render a position, size, or orientation,
etc. of a patient tooth 402 in the digital representation 116 to be different than in the patient's actual
dentition.

(43) The virtual camera processing engine 110 may be configured to determine a virtual camera
parameter associated with a virtual camera. The virtual camera parameter may correspond with a
parameter of a device (e.g., a camera) used to capture a digital representation 116. In some
embodiments, the virtual camera processing engine 110 may receive the virtual camera parameter.
For example, the virtual camera processing engine 110 may receive an input indicating a camera
setting corresponding to how the camera deals with, applies, or responds to distortions. For example,
a camera may include a setting indicating a picture height distortion. The picture height distortion may
be a ratio of bending of a straight line over a height of a picture. The virtual camera processing engine
110 may receive a value of the picture height distortion from the input. The input can include any
values associated with distortion or perspective settings of the camera. In another example, the
position of the camera when capturing the digital representation 116 may also be received as an input.
For example, the input may indicate that the camera was directly in front of the patient's dentition
when capturing the digital representation 116 or the input may indicate the translational and/or
rotational offset the camera had when capturing the digital representation.

(44) In some embodiments, the virtual camera processing engine 110 can calculate the virtual camera
parameter. For example, the virtual camera processing engine 110 may be configured to calculate the
intrinsic parameters. For example, the dental modeling computing system 100 may receive a plurality
of digital representations 116. The dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to
determine a position of a patient tooth 402 by analyzing the plurality of digital representations 116.
However, the digital representation processing engine 108 may determine a first position of the patient
tooth 402 in a first digital representation 116 is different than a second position of the patient tooth 402
in a second digital representation 116. The virtual camera processing engine 110 may be configured to
compare the difference between the first position and the second position and determine a distortion
value from the comparison. Upon determination of the distortion value, the distortion value can be
applied to other digital representations 116 in order for the dental modeling computing system 100 to
determine a correct position of the patient tooth 402. The virtual camera processing engine 110 may
also be configured to calculate the extrinsic parameters. Based on a digital representation 116, the
virtual camera processing engine 110 may be configured to identify the location and orientation of the
camera with respect to the patient's dentition when the digital representation 116 was captured.

(45) In some embodiments, the virtual camera parameter may be determined in one step and applied
to the virtual camera such that correct positions of the patient teeth 402 can be determined. For
example, the virtual camera processing engine 110 may receive the distortion settings of the camera
and apply those settings to the virtual camera to optimize the geometry of the patient teeth 402 from
the digital representations 116 to more accurately reflect a true geometry of the teeth. In other
embodiments, the determination of the virtual camera parameter may be an iterative process. For
example, the iterative process may include a plurality of virtual camera parameter adjustments. For
example, the virtual camera processing engine 110 may estimate a virtual camera parameter based
on a first digital representation 116. The virtual camera processing engine 110 may then adjust the
virtual camera parameter based on a second digital representation 116. The virtual camera processing
engine 110 may adjust the virtual camera parameter any number of times. For example, the virtual
camera processing engine 110 may adjust the virtual camera parameter for every digital
representation 116 that is analyzed. In some embodiments, the virtual camera processing engine 110
may adjust the virtual camera parameter until there are minimal adjustments to be made. For example,
the size of the adjustments for each digital representation 116 has become less than a threshold value
such that the virtual camera processing engine 110 can determine the virtual camera parameter is
accurate (e.g. within a predetermined standard deviation).

(46) Determining the virtual camera parameters may account for distortion of the digital representation
116. The distortion may be caused by the device that captured the digital representation 116. For
example, the digital representation 116 may include an image of a patient's dentition that deviates
from how the patient's dentition actually looks. Without correction, the deviation may cause the dental
modeling computing system 100 to determine the patient tooth is in a different location and/or has a
different orientation than it actually does. For example, a digital representation 116 captured with a
camera applying a pincushion distortion may include a patient tooth 402 near the center of the digital
representation 116 with little or no deformation and a patient tooth 402 near an outer edge of the
digital representation 116 with a larger amount of deformation due to the distortion applied by the
camera. The virtual camera processing engine 110 can apply the virtual camera parameters to the
patient tooth 402 with the large amount of deformation to optimize the geometry of the patient tooth
402. For example, applying the virtual camera parameters can determine how the patient tooth 402
looks in reality versus how it looks in the digital representation 116. The determination of the virtual
camera parameters enables the dental modeling computing system 100 to receive digital
representations 116 with various distortions, from various perspectives, etc. and optimize the geometry
of the teeth in the digital representations 116 to determine an accurate geometry and an accurate
position of the patient's teeth. As the virtual camera processing engine 110 adjusts the geometry of a
patient tooth 402, the model generation engine 106 may be configured to adjust the geometry of a
corresponding model tooth 204 of the 3D model 200 to better reflect the actual geometry of the patient
tooth 402. For example, a geometry of a model tooth 202 from a template dentition can be updated to
match a geometry of a corresponding patient tooth 402. Therefore, the dental modeling computing
system 100 may generate a 3D digital model 200 that resembles a patient's dentition without any
previous knowledge thereof. Determination of the virtual camera parameters improves the accuracy of
the dental modeling computing system 100 because a distorted digital representation 116 without
correction or consideration of the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the camera that captured the
digital representation 116 would result in incorrect determination of positions and/or geometries of
patient teeth 402 and therefore incorrect positioning of model teeth 202.

(47) Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 8, the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to
compare a first position of a model tooth 202 from a 3D model 200 with a position of a corresponding
patient tooth 402 from a digital representation 116. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may
be configured to compare the first position of the model tooth 202 with the position of the
corresponding patient tooth 402. In some embodiments, tooth positioning engine 112 may use a
normalized device coordinate (NDC) space to compare the position of the model tooth 202 with the
position of the corresponding patient tooth 402. FIG. 8 depicts a transformation of an image between a
camera space 802 and a NDC space 806, according to an exemplary embodiment. Camera space
802 may illustrate a space as seen from a camera's (or a person's) point of view. For example, the
camera space 802 can resemble a 2D image. The coordinate system of the camera space 802 may
be defined by a position or axis of the camera. Camera space 802 may be transformed into a 3D
camera space 804. The 3D camera space 804 may illustrate the same space as the camera space
802, but in a 3D coordinate system. The 3D camera space 804 may be transformed into the NDC
space 806. The NDC space 806 can crop the space from the camera space 802 and only include the
portion disposed within the defined NDC space 806. In some embodiments, the NDC space 806 may
be defined with a coordinate system ranging from (−1, −1, −1) to (1, 1, 1). In other embodiments, the
transformation may instead move from a 3D space to a 2D space and the 2D space can be
normalized. For example, the NDC space may be defined with a coordinate system of (−1, −1) to (1,
1).

(48) In some embodiments, a 3D model may include a 3D mesh. The tooth positioning engine 112
may render down the 3D mesh into the NDC space 806. For example, the 3D mesh may be flattened
into a point cloud and normalized in the NDC space. The tooth positioning engine 112 may also
interpret the segmentation of the 2D digital representation 116 performed by the digital representation
processing engine 108 as a polygon. A boundary of the polygon may also be disposed and normalized
in the NDC space. The tooth positioning engine 112 may project identified keypoints on the 2D digital
representation 116 to normalized NDC space. When the 3D mesh (illustrating the first position of the
model tooth 202) and the 2D polygon or keypoints (illustrating the position of the corresponding patient
tooth 402) are in the NDC space, the tooth positioning engine 112 may calculate an error metric
between the 3D mesh and the 2D polygon or keypoints. The error metric can define a difference
between the first position of the model tooth 202 and the position of the corresponding patient tooth
402. For example, the error metric can determine how much the model tooth 202 will have to move
and in which directions the model tooth 202 will have to move in order to match the position of the
corresponding patient tooth 402.

(49) The 3D model 200 may be updated using an optimizer. The optimizer may use one or more error
metrics and constraints. For example, a stochastic gradient descent may be applied to update the 3D
model based on the error metric. Optimizer constraints may include penalties to dissuade improbable
tooth movements. Optimizer constraint penalties may be informed from customer-specific information
or population-specific information. For example, customer-specific information may include prior 3D
scan data, treatment plan data, or subjective customer feedback (e.g., customer assessment of dental
aligner fit). Population-specific information may include population-level probabilities of maximum teeth
movement and types of movement within a given time period.

(50) The dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to compare a first position of a
model tooth 202 with a position of a corresponding patient tooth 402 based on the virtual camera
parameter. For example, the virtual camera parameter may indicate a location of a camera with
respect to the patient's dentition when the camera captured the digital representation 116. The dental
modeling computing system 100 may be configured to orient the 3D model 200 with respect to a
virtual camera based on the orientation of the patient's dentition with respect to the camera when the
digital representation 116 was captured. For example, the digital representation 116 can include an
image including the left side of the dentition and taken at the same elevation as the dentition. The
dental modeling computing system 100 may orient the 3D model such that the virtual camera faces
the left side of the 3D model 200 and is at the same height as the 3D model 200. The 3D model 200
may be oriented such that the portion of the patient's dentition visible in the digital representation 116
is the same portion of the 3D model that is visible by the virtual camera.

(51) Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 9, the dental modeling computing system 100 may be configured to
determine a movement for a model tooth. For example, tooth positioning engine 112 may be
configured to determine a tooth movement 902 for a model tooth 202. The tooth movement 902 may
include a rotational movement, translational movement, or any combination thereof. The tooth
movement 902 may be to move the model tooth 202 from a first position to a second position. The
second position may be based on a position of a corresponding patient tooth 402 from at least one
digital representation 116. The second position may be based on a virtual camera parameter. In some
embodiments, the second position may be based on a subset of a plurality of digital representations
associated with the corresponding patient tooth and the virtual camera parameter. For example, the
tooth movement 902 may result in a model tooth 202 in a second position that resembles the position
of the corresponding patient tooth 402 (e.g., same location, orientation, etc.). The tooth movement 902
may define translational movements and/or rotational movements. For example, based on the error
metric derived from comparing the model tooth 202 of the 3D model 200 with the patient tooth 402 of
the digital representation 116, the tooth positioning engine 112 may determine that to match the
position of the patient tooth 402, the model tooth 202 may translate in a certain direction and rotate
about a certain axis. Similarly, based on the alignment of the 3D model with the virtual camera based
on the virtual camera parameter, the tooth positioning engine 112 may determine that to match the
position of the patient tooth 402, the model tooth 202 may translate in a certain direction and rotate
about a certain axis.

(52) In some embodiments, the tooth positioning engine 112 may apply at least one limitation to the
tooth movement 902. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may limit the tooth movement 902
based on a tooth movement parameter. The tooth movement parameter may restrict the model tooth
202 from moving in a certain way. The tooth movement parameter may define a range of possible
tooth movements for each individual patient tooth. For example, the tooth movement parameter may
define a minimum and/or maximum rotational movement the model tooth 202 may move. The
boundaries of the range may be suggested boundaries (e.g., the patient tooth 402 likely did not move
beyond this point) or definite boundaries (e.g., the patient tooth 402 could not have moved beyond this
point). The definite boundaries may define a hard limit on the possible tooth movements of the model
tooth 202 such that the model tooth 202 cannot move beyond the identified range. The suggested
boundaries may be soft limits on the possible tooth movements of the model tooth 202 such that the
tooth movement 902 may extend beyond the suggested boundaries. In such an embodiment, as
described in more detail below, a penalty may be applied to the tooth movement 902 that extends
beyond or away from the tooth movement parameter. The tooth movement parameter may be based
on various factors. For example, a factor may be an adjacent structure. For example, a first model
tooth 202 may be adjacent to a second model tooth 202. If there is no space between the first model
tooth 202 and the second model tooth 202, the tooth movement parameter may prevent the first model
tooth 202 from moving in a direction toward the second model tooth 202.

(53) Another factor may be wear schedule data. For example, a patient tooth 402 may only move a
certain distance over a certain amount of time. For example, the patient tooth 402 may only be able to
move laterally 0.25 mm in one week. Therefore, if the 3D model is of a patient dentition from one week
prior to when the digital representation 116 was taken, the tooth movement parameter may indicate a
maximum lateral movement of 0.25 mm.

(54) Another factor may be wear time data and/or compliance data. For example, a distance a patient
tooth 402 can move may be based on the time the patient actually uses a dental appliance. For
example, a patient tooth 402 may be able to move laterally 0.25 mm if a dental aligner is worn for at
least 8 hours a day for 1 week (7 days). The wear time data may indicate that the patient wore the
dental aligner for only 40 hours. The compliance data may indicate that the patient was only 82%
compliant with the instructions. Therefore, the tooth movement parameter may indicate a maximum
tooth movement of less than 0.25 mm.

(55) Another factor may be customer feedback. For example, the customer feedback may include a
discomfort level. A higher discomfort level may indicate a larger movement than a lower level of
discomfort. A higher discomfort level may also indicate an undesirable movement (e.g., wrong
direction). The customer feedback may also include a fit of the dental aligner. A poor fit (e.g., loose on
the teeth) may indicate a lesser magnitude movement than a proper fit. A poor fit (e.g., too tight on the
teeth) may also indicate a greater magnitude of movement or undesirable movement. The customer
feedback may be considered alone or in combination with the wear schedule, wear time, and
compliance data.

(56) Another factor may be possible tooth movements. For example, memory 102 may include a tooth
movement library. The tooth movement library may include learned possible tooth movements
associated with each tooth of a dentition. The tooth positioning engine 112 may be configured to
access the tooth movement library to determine the tooth movement parameter for the model tooth
202. For example, the tooth movement library may indicate that a tooth may only rotate a
predetermined number of degrees, may only move in a certain direction, may only translate a
predetermined amount, etc. The tooth movement parameter may include the data from the tooth
movement library to define boundaries or a range of available tooth movements for the model tooth
202. The learned tooth movements may be based on clinical data, historically known movements,
movements recorded in previous cases, etc. For example, the learned tooth movements may be
expected movements from a treatment plan or typical movements of the teeth as evidenced by
previous data. The tooth movement library may also include predicted tooth movements associated
with each tooth of a dentition. For example, based on an initial position of a tooth, a second position of
the tooth is predicted to move an expected amount in an expected direction. The tooth positioning
engine 112 may limit available tooth movements of the model tooth 202 based on the tooth movement
parameter from the tooth movement library. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may restrict
the movement of a model tooth 202 to only the possible tooth movements in the tooth movement
library. As explained in more detail below, instead of restricting certain movements, the tooth
positioning engine 112 may instead apply penalties to tooth movements that deviate from the tooth
movement parameter.

(57) Determining and applying the tooth movement parameter increases the speed of determining the
tooth movement by reducing the number of possible movements that the tooth can make. The tooth
movement parameter also increases the accuracy of the positioning of a model tooth by eliminating or
penalizing movements that are unlikely or not possible by the model tooth.

(58) An artificial intelligence (AI) model may also be used to determine tooth movements by
incorporating real tooth movements and existing data from customers. For example, the AI model may
be configured to receive and analyze the actual tooth movements to learn the range of possible tooth
movements and adjust the range as the AI model receives more data from more iterations. The AI
model may learn to discriminate between realistic tooth movements and unrealistic tooth movements
based on the actual tooth movements and may apply the realistic tooth movements to the model tooth
202 over the unrealistic tooth movements. As such, the tooth positioning engine 112 may be
configured to move the model tooth 202 of the 3D model 200 based on data obtained from the AI
model. In some embodiments, data obtained from the AI model may be used as a check to ensure a
tooth movement determined by the tooth positioning engine 112 is realistic given a geometry of the
tooth being moved or of another tooth (e.g., an adjacent tooth or a non-adjacent tooth), a prior
movement of the tooth being moved or of another tooth (e.g., an adjacent tooth or a non-adjacent
tooth). For example, the data obtained from the AI model may indicate a probability of a tooth moving
a certain way (e.g., a magnitude, a direction, a rotation, a degree of impaction or eruption, etc.), and
the tooth positioning engine 112 may determine that a determined movement of the tooth is accurate if
the probability exceeds a threshold.

(59) The tooth movement may also be determined based on receiving digital representations 116 from
a patient at regular intervals. This can modify the metrics of the system specifically toward the
individual patient. For example, a first patient's teeth may move faster than a second patient's teeth. If
the dental modeling computing system 100 receives digital representations 116 from the first patient
on a regular basis (e.g., weekly, bi-weekly, etc.) the dental modeling computing system 100 may
calculate a rate of tooth movement for the first patient. The rate of tooth movement for the first patient
may be different from the rate of movement from the second patient. This can personalize the results
to each patient based on previously received data associated with the patient rather than data based
on a sample of other patients.

(60) In some embodiments, the tooth positioning engine 112 may establish a portion of the 3D model
200 as a reference point. The reference point may act as an anchor that has a predefined movement.
For example, the predefined movement may include limited movements that the reference point may
make. In some embodiments, the predefined movement is zero, such that the reference point remains
stationary. A model tooth 202 moving from a first position to a second position may move relative to
the reference point. The reference point may be a single point of the 3D model 200. The reference
point may be a feature of the 3D model 200 (e.g., model tooth 202, gingiva, any feature of the 3D
model 200). For example, the reference point may be a molar of the 3D model 200. In some
embodiments, the reference point is multiple molars (e.g., a first molar and a second molar) of the 3D
model 200. For example, molars may not be expected to move, so the tooth positioning engine 112
may identify the molars as the reference points and provides the molars a predefined movement of
zero with respect to all translational and rotational axes (e.g., the first molar and the second molar
remain stationary). In other embodiments, the tooth positioning engine 112 may provide the reference
point with a predefined movement that allows some movement, but has limitations on the magnitude
and direction of the movement. For example, the predefined movement may include a predicted
movement of a molar (e.g., based on a treatment plan). Identifying a reference point fixes some
control parameters to preset values and therefore reducing the number of variable parameters. The
reference point may reduce the number of degrees of freedom in which a dentition may move (e.g.,
prevent the dentition from flipping upside down). The reference point may anchor the 3D model in
space and prevent an infinite loop of optimization. The fewer variable parameters and the limitation of
movements increases the accuracy and efficiency of moving a model tooth 202 from a first position to
a second position that resembles a position of a corresponding patient tooth 402.

(61) The tooth positioning engine 112 may be configured to move the model tooth 202 of the 3D model
200. The tooth positioning engine 112 may be configured to move the model tooth 202 according to
the determined movement. The movement may identify how the model tooth 202 may move from a
first position to a second position. The second position may be based on the position of the
corresponding patient tooth 402 from the digital representation 116. The second position may also be
based on the virtual camera parameter. Moving the model tooth 202 from the first position to the
second position may include a single step. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may
determine the movement to apply to a model tooth 202 and the tooth positioning engine 112 may
apply the movement to the model tooth 202. Application of the movement to the model tooth 202 may
result in the model tooth 202 being in a position that matches a tooth of the patient.

(62) In other embodiments, moving the model tooth 202 from the first position to the second position
may be an iterative process. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may identify at least one
intermediate position. The intermediate positions may be based on different positions of a patient tooth
402 from a plurality of digital representations 116. For example, a first intermediate position may be
based on a position of a patient tooth 402 from a first digital representation 116. A second intermediate
position may be based on a position of the patient tooth 402 from a second digital representation 116.
The second intermediate position may be a slight adjustment from the first intermediate position based
on the position of the patient tooth 402 looking different in the first and second digital representations
116. In some embodiments, the intermediate positions may be based on changing a virtual camera
parameter. For example, the virtual camera processing engine 110 may determine a virtual camera
parameter from a first digital representation 116. The first intermediate position may be based on the
virtual camera parameter. The virtual camera processing engine 110 may adjust the virtual camera
parameter based on a second digital representation 116. The second intermediate position may be
based on the adjusted virtual camera parameter. In some embodiments, the position of the patient
tooth 402 and the virtual camera parameter may be adjusted simultaneously. In some embodiments,
the iterative process may continue until the dental modeling computing system 100 reaches a stopping
threshold indicating that the geometry of the patient tooth is optimized. For example, the stopping
threshold may be a predetermined number of iterations. For another example, the threshold may be
an algorithmic convergence. For example, a loss calculated between each iteration may become
smaller and smaller such that the algorithm converges. When the algorithm reaches a predetermined
loss threshold, the tooth positioning engine 112 may determine the model tooth 202 is in the second
position.

(63) The tooth positioning engine 112 may be configured to apply a penalty to a tooth movement. A
penalty may indicate that the tooth movement is not satisfying, or is straying away from, a tooth
movement parameter. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may apply a penalty to a tooth
movement when the tooth movement deviates from a tooth movement parameter. The penalty may
indicate to the dental modeling computing system 100 that the determined tooth movement may not
accurately depict the actual position of the patient tooth 402. The dental modeling computing system
100 may use the penalty and the magnitude of the penalty to determine whether a different tooth
movement is more accurate. The magnitude of the penalty may vary based on how far away the tooth
movement is from the tooth movement parameter. For example, the penalty may be proportionate to
the magnitude of offset of the tooth movement from the tooth movement parameter. As explained
above, the tooth movement parameter may be determined by various factors including, but not limited
to, adjacent structures, time lapsed, and possible tooth movements (e.g., from a tooth movement
library). The tooth positioning engine 112 may be configured to apply any factor to the tooth movement
and determine whether the tooth positioning engine 112 may apply a penalty to the tooth movement.
For example, based on the possible tooth movements from the tooth movement library, the tooth
positioning engine 112 may determine a probability of a tooth movement. If the probability is high, the
tooth positioning engine 112 may apply no penalty, or a low penalty. If the probability is low, the tooth
positioning engine 112 may apply a large penalty. In another example, the tooth positioning engine 112
may determine that within the time period between the patient tooth moving from a first position to a
second position, the patient tooth 402 may move within a range of distances. If the tooth movement is
within the range, the tooth positioning engine 112 may apply no penalty. If the tooth movement is
outside the range, the tooth positioning engine 112 may apply a penalty. The penalty may grow the
farther away the tooth movement is from the range.

(64) In some embodiments, the tooth positioning engine 112 may analyze the tooth movement with
respect to other structures. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may determine a tooth
movement moves a model tooth 202 into a structure. If the structure is an adjacent model tooth 202,
the tooth positioning engine 112 may determine a model tooth 202 cannot move into a space that is
occupied by another model tooth 202 and apply a penalty to the tooth movement. If the structure is an
obstruction identified by the digital representation processing engine 108, the tooth positioning engine
112 may determine the model tooth 202 may move into the space occupied by the obstruction and not
apply a penalty to the tooth movement 902. For example, a tooth movement 902 comprising moving
the model tooth 202 behind the obstruction may satisfy a tooth movement parameter. Moving behind
the obstruction may not cause the tooth positioning engine 112 to generate a penalty to apply to the
tooth movement 902.

(65) Applying a penalty to a tooth movement increases the accuracy of the movement of the model
tooth 202. The penalty highlights tooth movements that are not considered likely or possible. The
penalty reduces or eliminates the likelihood that the model tooth 202 is moved to a position that does
not accurately resemble the position of the patient tooth 402. In some embodiments, the penalty may
increase as a tooth movement moves further away from a tooth movement parameter. In some
embodiments, the penalty may act as a hard stop if the magnitude of the penalty reaches a
predetermined threshold. For example, a tooth movement parameter may define a range of distances
the patient tooth may move over a specified time period. The tooth movement parameter may not
prevent the model tooth 202 from deviating (e.g., moving beyond the boundaries of the range) from
the range. In such a case, a penalty may be applied to the tooth movement 902 that is outside the
range. A penalty less than a predefined penalty threshold may not prevent the tooth movement 902.
However, the penalty may increase the further the tooth movement 902 becomes outside the range.
The penalty may prevent the model tooth 202 from undergoing the tooth movement 902 when the
penalty reaches the predefined threshold. The predetermined penalty threshold may indicate a tooth
movement that is unlikely or impossible for the patient tooth 402 to move, and therefore prevents the
model tooth 202 from making such a movement.

(66) Based on the tooth movement and any applied penalties, the tooth positioning engine 112 may be
configured to generate a second 3D model comprising the model tooth 202 from the first 3D model in
the second position. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may move a model tooth 202 from
a first position to a second position, wherein the second position is based on a position of a
corresponding patient tooth 402 from a digital representation 116. In some embodiments, the tooth
positioning engine 112 may move a plurality of model teeth 202 to match a position of a plurality of
corresponding patient teeth 402. The tooth positioning engine 112 may be configured to generate the
second 3D model with the plurality of model teeth 202 in respective second positions. The second 3D
model may not include a new mesh. For example, the second 3D model may include the same mesh
of the model tooth 202 as the first 3D model, but at a different position. The second 3D model may
indicate status of a patient's dentition based on the received digital representations 116. The dental
modeling computing system 100 may be configured to generate the second 3D model without using a
treatment plan, wherein the treatment plan defines the position (or at least the expected position) of
the corresponding patient tooth 402. The dental modeling computing system 100 may determine the
position of the patient tooth 402 solely from the digital representation(s) 116 received. For example,
the dental modeling computing system 100 may determine the position based on a 2D image of the
patient's dentition. No knowledge of the expected position of the patient tooth 402 is used.

(67) Moving the model tooth 202 from the first position to the second position may include an iterative
process. The iterative process may be done at any point of the process. For example, determining the
patient tooth position may be an iterative process. For example, the digital representation processing
engine 108 may determine a first position from a first digital representation 116, a second position from
a second digital representation 116, and a third position from a third digital representation 116. The
digital representation processing engine 108 may analyze any number of digital representations until it
reaches a threshold. For example, the threshold may be a predetermined number of iterations,
number of digital representations, or a plateau in a loss function. The threshold may define when the
digital representation processing engine 108 has determined the accurate position of the patient tooth.

(68) Determining the virtual camera parameter may be an iterative process. For example, the iterative
process may include a plurality of virtual camera parameter adjustments. The virtual camera
processing engine 110 may determine a first virtual camera parameter from a first digital
representation 116, a second virtual camera parameter from a second digital representation 116, and
a third virtual camera parameter from a third digital representation 116. Each virtual camera parameter
may be an adjustment from a previous virtual camera parameter. The virtual camera processing
engine 110 may analyze any number of digital representations until it reaches a threshold. The
threshold may define when the virtual camera processing engine 110 has determined the accurate
virtual camera parameter. Comparing the first position of the model tooth 202 with the position of the
patient tooth 402 may be an iterative process. For example, the dental modeling computing system
100 may orient the 3D model 200 to match an orientation of a patient's dentition from a first digital
representation 116 and compare the first position of the model tooth 202 with the position of the
corresponding patient tooth 402 with the 3D model 200 at the first orientation and then orient the 3D
model 200 to match an orientation of a patient's dentition from a second digital representation 116 and
compare the first position of the model tooth 202 with the position of the corresponding patient tooth
402 with the 3D model 200 at the second orientation. The dental modeling computing system 100 may
reorient the 3D model any number of times until a threshold is reached. The threshold may define
when the dental modeling computing system 100 can determine an accurate second position for the
model tooth 202 based on the position of the patient tooth 402.

(69) Determining a tooth movement 902 for the model tooth 202 may be an iterative process. For
example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may determine a first tooth movement 902 from a first digital
representation 116 and/or virtual camera parameter, a tooth movement 902 from a second digital
representation 116 and/or virtual camera parameter, and a third tooth movement 902 from a third
digital representation 116 and/or virtual camera parameter. The tooth positioning engine 112 may
determine movements until it reaches a threshold. Determining a tooth movement 902 may include a
plurality of tooth adjustments. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may move the model
tooth 202 based on the first tooth movement 902 and adjust the position of the model tooth 202 based
on the second and third tooth movements 902. In some embodiments, the plurality of tooth
adjustments and the plurality of virtual camera parameter adjustments may occur simultaneously. In
some embodiments, the plurality of tooth adjustments and the plurality of virtual camera parameter
adjustments may occur at different times. The tooth positioning engine 112 may determine any
number of tooth movements 902 or move the model tooth 202 any number of times until it reaches a
threshold. The threshold may define when the tooth positioning engine 112 has determined the
accurate tooth movement 902 or the model tooth 202 is in the second position.

(70) Referring now to FIG. 10, a method 1000 of generating a 3D model of a dentition is shown,
according to an exemplary embodiment. Method 1000 may include generating a first 3D model (step
1002), receiving a digital representation (step 1004), determining a virtual camera parameter (step
1006), comparing a position of a model tooth with a position of a patient tooth (step 1008), moving the
model tooth (step 1010), and generating a second 3D model of a dentition.

(71) At step 1002, one or more processors may generate a first 3D model (e.g., a 3D digital model).
The first 3D model may represent a patient's dentition or a template dentition. To generate the first 3D
model, the one or more processors may obtain data associated with the dentition. For example, model
generation engine 106 of dental modeling computing system 100 may receive data from a computing
system. For example, the model generation engine 106 may receive intraoral scans of a patient's
dentition. The model generation engine 106 may convert the received data into the first 3D model. In
another example, the one or more processors may obtain the data by retrieving data from a database.
For example, the model generation engine 106 may retrieve data from memory 102. The data may
include images, dimensions, scans, previously-generated models, etc. of the dentition. The model
generation engine 106 may convert the retrieved data into the first 3D model. The first 3D model may
include a plurality of model teeth 202. The model generation engine 106 may generate a separate
mesh for each of the plurality of model teeth 202.

(72) At step 1004, the one or more processors may receive at least one digital representation. For
example, the digital representation processing engine 108 of the dental modeling computing system
100 may receive at least one digital representation 116. The digital representation processing engine
108 may receive a plurality of digital representations 116. The digital representation 116 may be, for
example, a 2D image or a video. The digital representation 116 may include a plurality of patient teeth
402. The digital representation processing engine 108 may receive the at least one digital
representation 116 from a user device 114. The user device 114 may be at a remote location with
respect to the dental modeling computing system 100. Step 1004 may include filtering the plurality of
digital representations 116. For example, the digital representation processing engine 108 may
designate a subset of the plurality of digital representations 116 as useful. The dental modeling
computing system 100 may use the subset of the plurality of digital representation 116 for the
remaining analysis, calculations, etc. and ignore (e.g., delete, store, etc.) the remaining of the plurality
of digital representations 116. Step 1004 may also include associating a subset of the plurality of
digital representation 116 with a patient tooth. The associated digital representations 116 may be a
subset of the filtered digital representations 116. When analyzing a patient tooth 402 from the plurality
of digital representations 116, the dental modeling computing system 100 may only refer to the subset
of the digital representations 116 associated with the patient tooth 402.

(73) At step 1006, the one or more processors may determine a virtual camera parameter. The virtual
camera parameter may include at least one value that is representative of a setting of a virtual
camera. The virtual camera parameter may correspond with a parameter of a device (e.g., a camera
of user device 114) used to capture the digital representation 116. The virtual camera parameter may
include an extrinsic and/or intrinsic parameter. The extrinsic parameters may correspond with a
position and/or orientation of the virtual camera. The intrinsic parameters may correspond with how
the virtual camera manipulates a digital representation 116. For example, an intrinsic parameter may
define at least one of a perspective or a distortion of a camera. The virtual camera processing engine
110 of the dental modeling computing system 100 may determine the virtual camera parameter.
Determining the virtual camera parameter may include receiving an input indicating the virtual camera
parameter or calculating the virtual camera parameter based on the digital representation(s) 116.
Calculating the virtual camera parameter may include analyzing at least one digital representation 116
to identify characteristics (e.g., settings, positioning, etc.) of the device used to capture the digital
representation 116. For example, calculating the virtual camera parameter may include comparing a
position of a patient tooth 402 in a first digital representation 116 with a position of the patient tooth
402 in a second digital representation 116. Based on a difference between the position from the first
digital representation 116 and the position from the second digital representation 116, the virtual
camera processing engine 110 may determine the virtual camera parameter. The virtual camera
processing engine 110 may apply any methods or algorithms, or any combination thereof, to
determine a virtual camera parameter from the digital representations 116.

(74) At step 1008, the one or more processors may compare a position of a model tooth with a position
of a patient tooth. Step 1008 may include the one or more processors determining the position of the
patient tooth. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 of the dental modeling computing system
100 may identify a position of a patient tooth 402 from the digital representation(s) 116. The tooth
positioning engine 112 may apply the virtual camera parameter to the digital representation 116 to
identify the position of the patient tooth 402. Determining the position of the patient tooth 402 may
include optimizing the geometry of the patient tooth based on the virtual camera parameters.
Optimizing the geometry may include adjusting the patient tooth 402 of the digital representation 116
based on the virtual camera parameters to better resemble a realistic position of the patient's tooth.
The adjustment can be made to the actual digital representation 116 or it can just be taken into
account when calculating the position of the patient tooth 402. With the position of the patient tooth
402, the tooth positioning engine 112 may compare the position of the patient tooth 402 with a
corresponding model tooth 202. In some embodiments, to compare the location of the model tooth 202
and the location of the corresponding patient tooth 402, model tooth 202 from the first 3D model 200
and the patient tooth 402 from the digital representation 116 are projected into an NDC space. The
tooth positioning engine 112 may calculate an error metric between the location of the model tooth 202
and the corresponding patient tooth 402. The tooth positioning engine 112 may use the error metric to
determine a tooth movement 902 for the model tooth 202. In some embodiments, to compare the
position of the model tooth 202 and the position of the corresponding patient tooth 402, the 3D model
200 may be oriented with respect to a virtual camera based on the virtual camera parameter. The
tooth positioning engine 112 may orient the 3D model 200 such that a portion of the 3D model seen by
a virtual camera is the same portion of the patient's dentition that is seen by the camera that captured
the digital representation 116. The tooth positioning engine 112 may determine a tooth movement 902
based on a difference between the first position of the model tooth 202 and the position of the
corresponding patient tooth 402.

(75) At step 1010, the one or more processors may move the model tooth. For example, the tooth
positioning engine 112 of the dental modeling computing system 100 may move the model tooth 202.
The tooth positioning engine 112 may move the model tooth 202 from a first position to a second
position. The tooth positioning engine 112 may move the model tooth 202 to the second position
based on the tooth movement 902. The second position and the tooth movement 902 may be based
on the position of the corresponding patient tooth 402 and the virtual camera parameter. The second
position is to resemble the position of the corresponding patient tooth 402 from the digital
representation 116.

(76) Steps 1006-1010 may include an iterative process. Any of the steps may repeated any number of
times and in any order or combination. For example, a first virtual camera parameter value may be
determined by the virtual camera processing engine 110. The first virtual camera parameter value may
be used to determine the position of the patient tooth 402 from the digital representation 116. Based
on the position of the patient tooth 402 and comparing the position of the patient tooth 402 with the
position of the model tooth 202, the tooth positioning engine 112 may determine a first tooth
movement 902 and move the model tooth 202 to an intermediate position based on the first tooth
movement 902. The tooth positioning engine 112 may compare the intermediate position of the model
tooth 202 with the position of the patient tooth 402. Based on the error metric identified, the virtual
camera parameter may calculate a second virtual camera parameter value (or adjust the first virtual
camera parameter). The process may be repeated until the position of the model tooth 202 matches
(within a predetermined degree or error) the position of the patient tooth 402. The tooth positioning
engine 112 may determine the position of the model tooth 202 matches the position of the patient
tooth 402 by applying a threshold. For example, the threshold may include a predetermined number of
iterations, a number of digital representations, or a plateau in a loss function.

(77) At step 1012, the one or more processors may generate a second 3D model (e.g., a 3D digital
model). The second 3D model may include the model tooth 202 in the second position. The second
3D model may include a plurality of model teeth 202 in respective second positions based on
corresponding patient teeth 402 from the digital representation(s) 116. The one or more processors
may generate the second 3D model without using a treatment plan, wherein the treatment plan defines
the position (or at least the expected position) of the patient teeth 402. Generating the 3D model may
not include generating a new mesh. She same mesh as the first 3D model may be used, with the
individual meshes of the model teeth 202 in different positions.

(78) Now referring to FIG. 11, a method 1100 of generating a 3D model of a dentition is shown,
according to an exemplary embodiment. Method 1100 may include generating a first 3D model (step
1102), receiving at least one digital representation (step 1104), and determining whether to filter the at
least one digital representation (step 1106). At step 1106, if the digital representations are going to be
filtered, method 1100 may include identifying useful digital representations (step 1108) and associating
the useful digital representations with a patient tooth (step 1110). After filtering the at least one digital
representation or determining not to filter the at least one digital representation, method 1100 may
include determining a virtual camera parameter (step 1112), comparing a model tooth position with a
corresponding patient tooth position (step 1114), moving a model tooth from a first position to a second
position (step 1116), and determining whether the tooth movement deviates from a movement
parameter (step 1118). At step 1118, if the tooth movement does deviate from the movement
parameter, method 1100 may include penalizing the tooth movement (step 1120). After penalizing the
tooth movement or determining the tooth movement does not deviate from the movement parameter,
method 1100 may include determining whether a stopping threshold is met (Step 1122). If the stopping
threshold is not met, additional iterations of steps 1112-1120 in any order and any combination may be
performed until the stopping threshold is met. When the stopping threshold is met, method 1100 may
include generating a second 3D model (step 1124).

(79) At step 1102, one or more processors may generate a first 3D model. Similar to step 1002, the
first 3D model may include a plurality of model teeth 202. Generating the first 3D model may include
obtaining data associated with a dentition. The dentition may be a patient dentition or a template
dentition. At step 1104, the one or more processors may receive at least one digital representation.
Similar to step 1004, the digital representation 116 may be an image, a plurality of images, a video,
etc. received from a remote user device 114. In some embodiments, at step 1104, the one or more
processors may receive a plurality of digital representations 116. For example, the digital
representation processing engine 108 may receive a plurality of images from a user device 114. The
plurality of images may include a plurality of patient teeth 402.

(80) At step 1106, the one or more processors may determine whether to filter the at least one digital
representation 116. For example, the digital representation processing engine 108 of the dental
modeling computing system 100 may determine whether to filter the at least one digital representation
116. For example, when the digital representation processing engine 108 receives a single digital
representation 116, the digital representation processing engine 108 may determine to not filter the
digital representation 116. When the digital representation processing engine 108 receives a plurality
of digital representations 116, the digital representation processing engine 108 may determine to filter
the plurality of digital representations 116. In some embodiments, the digital representation processing
engine 108 may determine to filter the digital representations 116 based on various factors, including
but not limited to, number of digital representations received, quality of digital representations
received, file size of the digital representations received, among others. For example, the digital
representation processing engine 108 may determine to filter the digital representations based on a
predetermined threshold number of digital representations 116 received. For example, the digital
representation processing engine 108 may filter the digital representations 116 when the digital
representation processing engine 108 receives ten or more digital representations 116. The digital
representation processing engine 108 may filter the digital representations 116 when the digital
representation processing engine 108 identifies some of the digital representations are out of focus or
blurry. The digital representation processing engine 108 may filter the digital representations when the
aggregate data size of the digital representations exceeds a predetermined threshold size. For
example, the aggregate data size exceeds one megabyte. Filtering the digital representations 116 can
reduce the storage space required to store the digital representations by removing some from the
system and increase computational speed by reducing the number digital representations 116 the
system analyzes to generate the second 3D model.

(81) When the one or more processors determine to filter the digital representation 116, at step 1108,
the one or more processors may identify at least one useful digital representation 116. For example,
the digital representation processing engine 108 of the dental modeling computing system 100 may
identify at least one useful digital representation 116. The digital representation processing engine 108
may identify a subset of a plurality of digital representations 116 that are useful. The digital
representation processing engine 108 may designate a digital representation 116 as useful if the
digital representation 116, for example, is in focus (e.g., not blurry, can identify details of the patient's
dentition from the digital representation), includes teeth that are going to be analyzed by the dental
modeling computing system 100, among others. The digital representation processing engine 108 may
designate a digital representation 116 as not useful if the digital representation 116, for example, is not
in focus, does not include teeth that are to be analyzed by the dental modeling computing system 100,
is a duplicate of another digital representation 116 (e.g., provides substantially the same information
as a different digital representation 116). Upon determination of the subset of the plurality of digital
representations 116 that are useful, the digital representation processing engine 108 may ignore the
remaining of the plurality of digital representations 116 that are considered not useful. For example,
the digital representation processing engine 108 may delete or remove the not useful digital
representation 116 from the dental modeling computing system 100. In some embodiments, the digital
representation processing engine 108 may store the not useful digital representations 116 in memory
102 but only use the useful digital representations 116 for further analysis and computations.

(82) At step 1110, the one or more processors may associate a digital representation 116 with a
patient tooth. For example, the digital representation processing engine 108 of the dental modeling
computing system 100 may associate a digital representation 116 with a patient tooth 402. The digital
representation processing engine 108 may associate a digital representation 116 with a patient tooth
402 when the digital representation 116 includes data relevant to the patient tooth 402. For example,
the digital representation processing engine 108 may associate a first digital representation 116 with a
first patient tooth 402 when the first digital representation 116 includes the first patient tooth 402. The
digital representation processing engine 108 may associate a second digital representation 116 with a
second patient tooth 402 when the second digital representation includes the second patient tooth
402. In some embodiments, if any portion of the first patient tooth 402 is in the first digital
representation 116, the digital representation processing engine 108 may associate the first digital
representation 116 with the first patient tooth 402. In some embodiments, the digital representation
processing engine 108 may associate the first digital representation 116 with the first patient tooth 402
if the first digital representation 116 provides enough data regarding the first patient tooth 402. For
example, enough data may be determined by a predetermined portion of a patient tooth 402 being
visible in the digital representation 116. For example, the digital representation processing engine 108
may associate the first digital representation 116 with the first patient tooth 402 if at least 50% of the
front surface of the first patient tooth 402 is shown.

(83) In some embodiments, a digital representation 116 may be associated with a plurality of patient
teeth 402. For example, when the first digital representation 116 includes both a first patient tooth 402
and a second patient tooth 402, the digital representation processing engine 108 may associate the
first digital representation 116 with both the first patient tooth 402 and the second patient tooth 402. A
digital representation 116 may be associated with any number of patient teeth 402.

(84) The digital representation processing engine 108 may associate a digital representation 116 with
a patient tooth with or without a subset of a plurality of digital representations 116 being identified as
useful at step 1108. For example, the digital representation processing engine 108 may associate all
received digital representations 116 with at least one patient tooth 402 or may associate only the
subset of the plurality of digital representations 116 with at least one patient tooth 402. In some
embodiments, the digital representation processing engine 108 may only associate a threshold
number of digital representations 116 with a patient tooth 402. For example, the digital representation
processing engine 108 may limit the number of digital representations 116 that may be associated with
a single patient tooth 402. The digital representation processing engine 108 may determine which set
of digital representations 116 provide the most information regarding the position of the patient tooth
402, and associate that set of digital representations 116 with the patient tooth 402. Associating digital
representations 116 with a specific patient tooth 402 reduces the computational strain on the system
by reducing the volume of data being analyzed for a specific patient tooth 402. Associating digital
representations with the specific tooth also increases the efficiency and accuracy of the system by
only analyzing digital representations 116 that provide relevant data regarding the specific patient
tooth 402. Limiting the number of associations further reduces the computational strain and increases
the efficiency and accuracy of the system.

(85) At step 1112, the one or more processors may determine a virtual camera parameter. For
example, the virtual camera processing engine 110 of the dental modeling computing system 100 may
determine a virtual camera parameter. The virtual camera parameter may include at least one value
that is representative of a setting of a virtual camera. The virtual camera parameter may correspond
with a parameter of a device (e.g., a camera of user device 114) used to capture the digital
representation 116. The virtual camera parameter may include an extrinsic and/or intrinsic parameter.
The extrinsic parameters may correspond with a position and/or orientation of the virtual camera. The
intrinsic parameters may correspond with how the virtual camera manipulates a digital representation
116. For example, an intrinsic parameter may define at least one of a perspective or a distortion of a
camera. Determining the virtual camera parameter may include receiving an input indicating the virtual
camera parameter or calculating the virtual camera parameter based on the digital representation(s)
116. Calculating the virtual camera parameter may include analyzing at least one digital representation
116 to identify characteristics (e.g., settings, positioning, etc.) of the device used to capture the digital
representation 116. The virtual camera processing engine 110 may apply any methods or algorithms,
or any combination thereof, to determine a virtual camera parameter from the digital representations
116.

(86) At step 1114, the one or more processing engines may compare a position of a model tooth with a
positon of a patient tooth. Step 1114 may include the one or more processors determining the position
of the patient tooth. With the position of the patient tooth 402, the tooth positioning engine 112 may
compare the position of the patient tooth 402 with a corresponding model tooth 202. In some
embodiments, to compare the location of the model tooth 202 and the location of the corresponding
patient tooth 402, model tooth 202 from the first 3D model 200 and the patient tooth 402 from the
digital representation 116 are projected into an NDC space. The tooth positioning engine 112 may
calculate an error metric between the location of the model tooth 202 and the corresponding patient
tooth 402. The tooth positioning engine 112 may use the error metric to determine a tooth movement
902 for the model tooth 202. In some embodiments, to compare the location of the model tooth 202
and the location of the corresponding patient tooth 402, the 3D model 200 may be oriented with a
virtual camera based on the virtual camera parameter. The tooth positioning engine 112 may orient the
3D model 200 such that a portion of the 3D model seen by a virtual camera is the same portion of the
patient's dentition that is seen by the camera that captured the digital representation 116. The tooth
positioning engine 112 may determine a tooth movement 902 based on a difference between the first
position of the model tooth 202 and the position of the corresponding patient tooth 402.

(87) At step 1116, the one or more processors may move the model tooth. For example, the tooth
positioning engine 112 of the dental modeling computing system 100 may move the model tooth 202.
The tooth positioning engine 112 may move the model tooth 202 from a first position to a second
position. The tooth positioning engine 112 may move the model tooth 202 to the second position
based on the tooth movement 902. The second position and the tooth movement 902 may be based
on the position of the corresponding patient tooth 402 and the virtual camera parameter. The second
position is to resemble the position of the corresponding patient tooth 402 from the digital
representation 116.

(88) At step 1118, the one or more processors may determine whether the tooth movement deviates
from a tooth movement parameter. For example, tooth positioning engine 112 of the dental modeling
computing system 100 may determine whether the tooth movement deviates from a movement
parameter. Step 1118 may include the one or more processors determining the tooth movement
parameter. For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 may determine the tooth movement
parameter. The tooth movement parameter may restrict the model tooth 202 from moving in a certain
way. The tooth movement parameter may define a range of possible tooth movements for each
individual patient tooth. For example, the tooth movement parameter may define a minimum and/or
maximum rotational movement the model tooth 202 may move. The boundaries of the range may be
suggested boundaries (e.g., the patient tooth 402 likely did not move beyond this point) or definite
boundaries (e.g., the patient tooth 402 could not have moved beyond this point). The tooth positioning
engine 112 may determine the tooth movement parameter by, for example, accessing a tooth
movement library from memory 102, identifying structures adjacent to the model tooth 202, applying a
treatment plan associated with the patient, or any combination thereof.

(89) To determine whether the tooth movement deviates from the tooth movement parameter, the
tooth positioning engine 112 may compare the actual tooth movement with the boundaries defined by
the tooth movement parameter. When the tooth movement exceeds or is outside of the boundaries,
the tooth movement may deviate from the tooth movement parameter. When the tooth movement
remains within the boundaries, the tooth movement may not deviate from the tooth movement
parameter.

(90) When the one or more processors determine the tooth movement does deviate from the tooth
movement parameter, at step 1120, the one or more processors may penalize the tooth movement.
For example, the tooth positioning engine 112 of the dental modeling computing system 100 may
apply a penalty to the tooth movement. The penalty may indicate to the dental modeling computing
system 100 that the tooth movement may not be an accurate representation of the patient tooth 402.
Therefore, when the dental modeling computing system 100 analyzes other digital representations or
is solving for other virtual camera parameters, the dental modeling computing system 100 may
determine values and movements that reduce the penalty on the tooth movement may be more
accurate than values and movements that increase the penalty.

(91) Applying the penalty may include preventing a tooth movement. For example, the tooth
positioning engine 112 may apply a penalty threshold. If a tooth movement reaches the penalty
threshold, the tooth positioning engine 112 may restrict the model tooth 202 from moving any further in
the direction of the current tooth movement. In some embodiments, any penalty may prevent a tooth
movement if the boundaries defined by the tooth movement parameter are definite boundaries. For
example, a definite boundary may define a tooth movement that is likely impossible (e.g., flipping a
tooth upside down). In such a case, the tooth positioning engine 112 may prevent the tooth movement
and prevent the model tooth 202 from flipping upside down.

(92) At step 1122, the one or more processors may determine whether a stopping threshold is met. In
some embodiments, steps 1112-1122 may include an iterative process. For example, steps 1112-1122
may be performed any number of times, in any combination, and in any order. Determining whether a
stopping threshold is met may include determining when the iterative process may end. For example,
the stopping threshold may be a predetermined number of iterations. For another example, the
threshold may be an algorithmic convergence. For example, a loss calculated between each iteration
may become smaller and smaller such that the algorithm converges. When the algorithm reaches a
predetermined loss threshold, the tooth positioning engine 112 may determine the model tooth 202 is
in the second position. The stopping threshold may define when the model tooth 202 is in the second
position that accurately resembles the position of the corresponding patient tooth 402.

(93) At step 124, the one or more processors may generate a second 3D model. The second 3D
model may include the model tooth 202 in the second position. In some embodiments, the second 3D
model includes a plurality of model teeth 202, each in a respective second position. The second 3D
model may resemble the patient's dentition from the digital representations 116 received. Generating
the second 3D model may not include generating a new 3D mesh. The second 3D model may include
the 3D mesh from the first 3D model, with the mesh of the individual model teeth 202 oriented with the
model teeth 202 in the second position.

(94) The embodiments described herein have been described with reference to drawings. The
drawings illustrate certain details of specific embodiments that provide the systems, methods and
programs described herein. However, describing the embodiments with drawings should not be
construed as imposing on the disclosure any limitations that may be present in the drawings.

(95) It should be understood that no claim element herein is to be construed under the provisions of 35
U.S.C. § 112(f), unless the element is expressly recited using the phrase “means for.”

(96) As utilized herein, terms of degree such as “approximately,” “about,” “substantially,” and similar
terms are intended to have a broad meaning in harmony with the common and accepted usage by
those of ordinary skill in the art to which the subject matter of this disclosure pertains. It should be
understood by those of skill in the art who review this disclosure that these terms are intended to allow
a description of certain features described and claimed without restricting the scope of these features
to any precise numerical ranges provided. Accordingly, these terms should be interpreted as indicating
that insubstantial or inconsequential modifications or alterations of the subject matter described and
claimed are considered to be within the scope of the disclosure as recited in the appended claims.

(97) It should be noted that terms such as “exemplary,” “example,” and similar terms, as used herein to
describe various embodiments, are intended to indicate that such embodiments are possible
examples, representations, or illustrations of possible embodiments, and such terms are not intended
to connote that such embodiments are necessarily extraordinary or superlative examples.
(98) The term “coupled” and variations thereof, as used herein, means the joining of two members
directly or indirectly to one another. Such joining may be stationary (e.g., permanent or fixed) or
moveable (e.g., removable or releasable). Such joining may be achieved with the two members
coupled directly to each other, with the two members coupled to each other using a separate
intervening member and any additional intermediate members coupled with one another, or with the
two members coupled to each other using an intervening member that is integrally formed as a single
unitary body with one of the two members. If “coupled” or variations thereof are modified by an
additional term (e.g., directly coupled), the generic definition of “coupled” provided above is modified
by the plain language meaning of the additional term (e.g., “directly coupled” means the joining of two
members without any separate intervening member), resulting in a narrower definition than the generic
definition of “coupled” provided above. Such coupling may be mechanical, electrical, or fluidic.

(99) The term “or,” as used herein, is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that
when used to connect a list of elements, the term “or” means one, some, or all of the elements in the
list. Conjunctive language such as the phrase “at least one of X, Y, and Z,” unless specifically stated
otherwise, is understood to convey that an element may be either X, Y, Z; X and Y; X and Z; Y and Z;
or X, Y, and Z (i.e., any element on its own or any combination of X, Y, and Z). Thus, such conjunctive
language is not generally intended to imply that certain embodiments require at least one of X, at least
one of Y, and at least one of Z to each be present, unless otherwise indicated.

(100) References herein to the positions of elements (e.g., “top,” “bottom,” “above,” “below”) are
merely used to describe the orientation of various elements in the drawings. It should be noted that the
orientation of various elements may differ according to other exemplary embodiments, and that such
variations are intended to be encompassed by the present disclosure.

(101) As used herein, the term “engine” may include hardware and machine-readable media storing
instructions thereon for configuring the hardware to execute the functions described herein. The
engine may be embodied as one or more circuitry components including, but not limited to, processing
circuitry, network interfaces, peripheral devices, input devices, output devices, sensors, etc. In some
embodiments, the engine may take the form of one or more analog circuits, electronic circuits (e.g.,
integrated circuits (IC), discrete circuits, system on a chip (SOCs) circuits, etc.), telecommunication
circuits, hybrid circuits, and any other type of circuit. In this regard, the engine may include any type of
component for accomplishing or facilitating achievement of the operations described herein. For
example, an engine as described herein may include one or more transistors, logic gates (e.g., NAND,
AND, NOR, OR, XOR, NOT, XNOR, etc.), resistors, multiplexers, registers, capacitors, inductors,
diodes, wiring, and so on).

(102) An engine may be embodied as one or more processing circuits comprising one or more
processors communicatively coupled to one or more memory or memory devices. In this regard, the
one or more processors may execute instructions stored in the memory or may execute instructions
otherwise accessible to the one or more processors. The one or more processors may be constructed
in a manner sufficient to perform at least the operations described herein. In some embodiments, the
one or more processors may be shared by multiple engines (e.g., engine A and engine B may
comprise or otherwise share the same processor which, in some example embodiments, may execute
instructions stored, or otherwise accessed, via different areas of memory).

(103) Alternatively or additionally, the one or more processors may be structured to perform or
otherwise execute certain operations independent of one or more co-processors. In other example
embodiments, two or more processors may be coupled via a bus to enable independent, parallel,
pipelined, or multi-threaded instruction execution. Each processor may be provided as one or more
suitable processors, application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable gate arrays
(FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or other suitable electronic data processing components
structured to execute instructions provided by memory. The one or more processors may take the form
of a single core processor, multi-core processor (e.g., a dual core processor, triple core processor,
quad core processor, etc.), microprocessor, etc. In some embodiments, the one or more processors
may be external to the apparatus, for example the one or more processors may be a remote processor
(e.g., a cloud based processor). Alternatively or additionally, the one or more processors may be
internal and/or local to the apparatus. In this regard, a given engine or components thereof may be
disposed locally (e.g., as part of a local server, a local computing system, etc.) or remotely (e.g., as
part of a remote server such as a cloud based server). To that end, engines as described herein may
include components that are distributed across one or more locations.

(104) An example system for providing the overall system or portions of the embodiments described
herein might include one or more computers, including a processing unit, a system memory, and a
system bus that couples various system components including the system memory to the processing
unit. Each memory device may include non-transient volatile storage media, non-volatile storage
media, non-transitory storage media (e.g., one or more volatile and/or non-volatile memories), etc. In
some embodiments, the non-volatile media may take the form of ROM, flash memory (e.g., flash
memory such as NAND, 3D NAND, NOR, 3D NOR, etc.), EEPROM, MRAM, magnetic storage, hard
discs, optical discs, etc. In other embodiments, the volatile storage media may take the form of RAM,
TRAM, ZRAM, etc. Combinations of the above are also included within the scope of machine-readable
media. In this regard, machine-executable instructions comprise, for example, instructions and data
which cause a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or special purpose processing
machines to perform a certain function or group of functions. Each respective memory device may be
operable to maintain or otherwise store information relating to the operations performed by one or
more associated circuits, including processor instructions and related data (e.g., database
components, object code components, script components, etc.), in accordance with the example
embodiments described herein.

(105) Although the drawings may show and the description may describe a specific order and
composition of method steps, the order of such steps may differ from what is depicted and described.
For example, two or more steps may be performed concurrently or with partial concurrence. Also,
some method steps that are performed as discrete steps may be combined, steps being performed as
a combined step may be separated into discrete steps, the sequence of certain processes may be
reversed or otherwise varied, and the nature or number of discrete processes may be altered or
varied. The order or sequence of any element or apparatus may be varied or substituted according to
alternative embodiments. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the
scope of the present disclosure as defined in the appended claims. Such variation may depend, for
example, on the software and hardware systems chosen and on designer choice. All such variations
are within the scope of the disclosure. Likewise, software implementations of the described methods
could be accomplished with standard programming techniques with rule-based logic and other logic to
accomplish the various connection steps, processing steps, comparison steps, and decision steps.

(106) The foregoing description of embodiments has been presented for purposes of illustration and
description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed,
and modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from
this disclosure. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to explain the principals of the
disclosure and its practical application to enable one skilled in the art to utilize the various
embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. Other
substitutions, modifications, changes and omissions may be made in the design, operating conditions,
and arrangement of the embodiments without departing from the scope of the present disclosure as
expressed in the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method comprising: generating, by one or more processors, a first 3D model of a dentition, the
dentition comprising a plurality of model teeth; receiving, by the one or more processors, at least one
digital representation comprising a plurality of patient teeth, the at least one digital representation
comprising at least one of a 2D image or a video; determining, by the one or more processors, a
virtual camera parameter associated with a virtual camera, wherein the virtual camera parameter
corresponds with a parameter of a camera used to capture the at least one digital representation;
comparing, by the one or more processors based on the virtual camera parameter, a first position of a
model tooth of the first 3D model with a position of a corresponding patient tooth of the at least one
digital representation; moving, by the one or more processors, the model tooth of the first 3D model
from the first position to a second position, wherein the second position is based on the actual relative
3D position of the corresponding patient tooth, and moving the model tooth from the first position to
the second position comprises an iterative process, the iterative process comprising a plurality of tooth
adjustments and a corresponding plurality of virtual camera parameter adjustments made respective
to the at least one digital representation; and generating, by the one or more processors, a second 3D
model comprising the model tooth of the first 3D model in the second position.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual camera parameter comprises an extrinsic parameter, the
extrinsic parameter defining at least one of a translational matrix or a rotational matrix of the camera.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual camera parameter comprises an intrinsic parameter, the
intrinsic parameter defining at least one of a perspective or a distortion of the camera.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising establishing a reference point of the 3D model, wherein
the model tooth of the first 3D model moves relative to the reference point, the reference point
comprising a predefined movement.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the reference point comprises a first molar or a second molar of the
3D model, wherein the predefined movement of the first molar or the second molar comprises
remaining stationary.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by the one or more processors, a plurality of
digital representations, wherein the plurality of digital representations comprise at least one of a
plurality of individually captured images or the video; identifying, by the one or more processors, a
subset of the plurality of digital representations, wherein each of the subset of the plurality of digital
representations comprises a predetermined portion of the corresponding patient tooth; and
associating, by the one or more processors, the subset of the plurality of digital representations with
the corresponding patient tooth; wherein the second position of the model tooth is based on the subset
of the plurality of digital representations associated with the corresponding patient tooth and the virtual
camera parameter.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising: limiting, by the one or more processors, a tooth
movement based on a tooth movement parameter; and applying, by the one or more processors, a
penalty to the tooth movement when the tooth movement deviates from the tooth movement
parameter.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the tooth movement parameter defines a range of possible tooth
movements.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: accessing, by the one or more processors, a tooth
movement library to determine the tooth movement parameter for the model tooth of the first 3D
model; and limiting, by the one or more processors, available tooth movements of the model tooth of
the first 3D model based on the tooth movement parameter from the tooth movement library.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the penalty prevents the model tooth from undergoing a possible
tooth movement based on the penalty reaching a predefined threshold.

11. The method of claim 7, further comprising: designating, by the one or more processors, a feature in
the at least one digital representation as an obstruction, wherein the tooth movement comprising
moving the model tooth behind the obstruction satisfies the tooth movement parameter.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising applying, by the one or more processors, a threshold to
the iterative process, the threshold defining when the model tooth is in the second position within a
threshold degree of accuracy.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the threshold comprises at least one of a fixed number of
iterations or a plateau in a loss function.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors do not use a treatment plan to
generate the second 3D model with the model tooth in the second position, wherein the treatment plan
defines an expected position of the corresponding patient tooth.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising: modifying a geometry of the corresponding patient
tooth of the at least one digital representation based on the virtual camera parameter; wherein the
comparison of the first position of the model tooth of the first 3D model with the position of the
corresponding patient tooth of the at least one digital representation is based on the modified
geometry of the corresponding patient tooth of the at least one digital representation.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of model teeth are based on a shape of template teeth
from a template model dentition.

17. A system comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled with the processor, wherein the memory
is configured to store instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:
generate a first 3D model of a dentition, the dentition comprising a plurality of model teeth; receive at
least one digital representation comprising a plurality of patient teeth, the at least one digital
representation comprising at least one of a 2D image or a video; determine a virtual camera parameter
associated with a virtual camera, wherein the virtual camera parameter corresponds with a parameter
of a camera used to capture the at least one digital representation; compare, based on the virtual
camera parameter, a first position of a model tooth of the first 3D model with a position of a
corresponding patient tooth of the at least one digital representation; move the model tooth of the first
3D model from the first position to a second position, the second position based on the position of the
corresponding patient tooth, wherein moving the model tooth from the first position to the second
position comprises an iterative process, the iterative process comprising a plurality of tooth
adjustments and a corresponding plurality of virtual camera parameter adjustments made respective
to the at least one digital representation; and generate a second 3D model comprising the model tooth
of the first 3D model in the second position.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause
the processor to: receive a plurality of digital representations, wherein the plurality of digital
representations comprise at least one of a plurality of individually captured images or the video;
identify a subset of the plurality of digital representations, wherein each of the subset of the plurality of
digital representations comprises a predetermined portion of the corresponding patient tooth; and
associate the subset of the plurality of digital representations with the corresponding patient tooth;
wherein the second position of the model tooth is based on the subset of the plurality of digital
representations associated with the corresponding patient tooth and the virtual camera parameter.

19. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or
more processors, cause the one or more processors to: generate a first 3D model of a dentition, the
dentition comprising a plurality of model teeth; receive at least one digital representation comprising a
plurality of patient teeth, the at least one digital representation comprising at least one of a 2D image
or a video; determine a virtual camera parameter associated with a virtual camera, wherein the virtual
camera parameter corresponds with a parameter of a camera used to capture the at least one digital
representation; compare, based on the virtual camera parameter, a first position of a model tooth of
the first 3D model with a position of a corresponding patient tooth of the at least one digital
representation; move the model tooth of the first 3D model from the first position to a second position,
the second position based on the position of the corresponding patient tooth, wherein moving the
model tooth from the first position to the second position comprises an iterative process, the iterative
process comprising a plurality of tooth adjustments and a corresponding plurality of virtual camera
parameter adjustments made respective to the at least one digital representation; and generate a
second 3D model comprising the model tooth of the first 3D model in the second position.