After an orthodontist has fitted a patient with braces or an aligner – or otherwise worked on straightening their teeth – it's important for them to follow that person's progress. A new smartphone-based setup is designed to let them do so, without requiring the patient to visit their clinic.
Developed by a Paris-based company of the same name, the system is known as Dental Monitoring. Orthodontists who are utilizing it start by giving patients two pieces of hardware to take home with them – a dental retractor and a smartphone-holding receptacle called the ScanBox.
Once it's time for the patient to perform a scan, they start by putting the retractor in their mouth, thus exposing their teeth. The ScanBox, into which their phone has been inserted, is then magnetically attached to the retractor.
Guided by audio cues in an accompanying iOS/Android app, the patient proceeds to move the ScanBox back and forth and tilt it up and down, taking a series of smartphone photos of their teeth as they do so. Those pictures are uploaded to a server, where artificial intelligence-based algorithms are used to analyze them.
If problems such as poor hygiene or misalignments are detected, the orthodontist is notified so they can set up an appointment. Should everything be going according to plan, though, the patient is saved a visit to the clinic, and the orthodontist can spend more time with other clients. Each scan reportedly takes only about one minute for the patient to perform.
The system is demonstrated in the video below.
Source: Dental Monitoring
