reference is first being made to fig1 that shows a general flow chart of an embodiment of the virtual treatment method in accordance with the invention . upon initiation 20 , a virtual diagnostic setup model is inputted . this model may be obtained by a number of different ways . the basis is a virtual teeth model obtained through a variety of teeth scanning or direct teeth imaging techniques , or through scanning or otherwise capturing a negative teeth impression or a positive teeth model . an example of a method for obtaining three - dimensional digital model of teeth is disclosed in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 099 , 314 . from such a model a virtual setup model may be obtained through an automatic or manual procedure in which the setup model the teeth are separated from one another in a manner that permits separate manipulation of the position of each of the teeth . at the next step 24 a set of orthodontic appliances is selected for subsequent association with the teeth . as will be appreciated , the invention is not limited to a specific set of orthodontic appliances and the general principle described herein applies to any selected set . however , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention , the set of orthodontic appliances which is to be used is a straight wire set that comprises a straight wire and brackets . as known , each bracket has a horizontal slot for receiving the wire . in addition , similarly as in real life orthodontic treatment , other orthodontic appliances such as hooks , elastic components , and others may be included in the set . the selection of the set may be automatic by the system or may be manual . for selection of a set of orthodontic appliances , different options may be presented to the user , for example , sets of different manufacturers , and the orthodont may then choose the one most familiar to him or the set which he prefers to use . alternatively , rather than selecting a complete set , optionally the user may select individual components that together will comprise the set . at a next step 26 the appliances are attached to or made to associate with the teeth . in one embodiment of the invention this is an automatic operation . in such an embodiment , after selection of the set for orthodontic appliances , the brackets are automatically attached to teeth . in such an automatic attachment , the brackets are typically attached to the center point of the teeth crown ( namely at the center of the exposed surface of the teeth ). in accordance with another embodiment the user may be permitted to select the position of all or of only some of the brackets . once all brackets have been selected , a wire , typically a straight wire as pointed out above , is added , and the first sequence of orthodontic treatment follows . in this first sequence , teeth are repositioned in a manner so that all the wire - receiving slots on the brackets snap onto the wire . this causes all slots to align in the plane defined by the wire and the teeth to align in an overall arch is also defined by the wire . this step may be carried out , for example , in a manner as described in pct publication wo 99 / 34747 . thereby , a first treatment state of the virtual model is obtained . a more detailed description of the step appears further below . in a next step 30 , this initial treatment state is analyzed and graded by a variety of criteria c 1 , c 2 , . . . cn . these grading criteria include , in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention , the following : alignment , marginal ridges , buccolingual inclination , overjet , occlusal relationship , occlusal contact and interproximal contacts . reference is made to the explanation above of these criteria . the grading , as pointed out above , is based on the deviation of the teeth arrangement from a standard or ideal arrangement , in accordance with one or more of established standards . an example of a standard which may be applied is that set by the american board of orthdontics , referenced above . it should , however , be noted that in some embodiments only part of the above criteria or at times even one , e . g . only the criteria of alignment , may be used to grade the teeth arrangement . in a typical embodiment of the invention , the grading is carried out automatically , although optionally , the grading may be manually done by the user . following the grading according to one or more of the above criteria , at a next step 32 an overall model analysis is carried out . in this analysis the different grading scores are combined , which combination may be a simple combination , may be a weighted combination ( ascribing a different way to a different criteria ) or any other acceptable analysis of the system . here again , the overall model analysis is typically automatic , although it is possible also to permit the user to do it manually . following this overall analysis , at a distant point 34 an assessment is made whether the model meets orthodontic standards or whether an improvement is required . if no improvement is required , the virtual treatment ends 36 . if a decision is made and an improvement is required , which decision may be automatic or may be a decision made by the user , a next step 38 teeth for repositioning are selected , then at 40 the orthodontic appliances are virtually detached from at least the selected teeth , the detached appliances are then repositioned at 42 , to yield repositioning of the teeth . for example , where a bracket is repositioned to a different lateral portion of the tooth , it causes axial rotation of the tooth . where , by another example the bracket is repositioned to a different vertical position of the tooth crown , it causes extraction or retraction of the tooth . where , by a further example , the attachment of the bracket to the wire is the different anteoposterior point on the wire , it causes the tooth to move in the anterior or posterior direction . it should be noted that optionally in steps 40 and 42 , orthodontic appliances are at least temporary removed or hidden for easier visualization of the manipulation outcome . then , at 44 , the detached orthodontic appliances are reassociated to the teeth and a resulting altered treatment state is obtained . the appliances repositioning may be done using an optimization algorithm employing one of many optimization or goal - seeking algorithms where the variable set is the set of appliances positions and the goal is best grade . possible algorithms include deepest descent , newton - raphson method and others . in addition , the goal may also include additional restrictions such as having minimal angle between teeth to avoid results that may give a goal grade but are less aesthetically appealing . the resulting altered treatment state so obtained is analyzed and graded in the same manner as described above . typically in the orthodontic treatment , each tooth is assembled with its corresponding bracket such that the base point of the bracket falls initially on the facial axis point of the tooth , as typically done in orthodontry . the assembled teeth may then translocate along the wire &# 39 ; s curve according to the following criteria ; ( i ) the two central incisors are translocated along the wire curve ( along the curve falling on the andrews plane ) until they are brought into at least one point of contact , preferably such that their contact point falls on the mid - platal plane . ( ii ) the lateral incisors on each side of the mid - platal ( the left and right lateral incisors ) may be translocated towards their respective central incisors ( i . e . the left and right incisors , respectively ), followed by translocating the canine , premolar ( first premolar , then premolar ) and molar ( for the first molar , then second molar and optionally then the third molar ) teeth such that each flanking teeth have at least one point of contact therebetween . it should be clear that the same procedure is applied whenever a tooth is extracted or stripped , taking into consideration which tooth exactly was extracted . the outcome of the above procedure is an arch wire set with brackets which are fixed with the respective tooth , the teeth being optimally arranged according to orthodontic criteria . at times , movement of the first molar teeth by the system of the invention may result in a distilization of the mandibular molar teeth in an amount greater than that allowed in a real life treatment according to real life treatment considerations . accordingly , after translocation of teeth as described above , the system verifies whether the mandibular distilization performed would be allowed in real life considerations and if in the negative , the result displayed on the display screen , will show the user that the procedure performed would not be feasible in the real life orthodontic treatment . the user will then know that the orthodontic treatment plan he selected should be changed , e . g . by selecting a different wire , different brackets , performing other , if any manipulations on the teeth , etc . the resulting arrangement of the teeth may further be processed by applying a vertical repositioning of the teeth , and if necessary , move in a manner similar to that in step ( ii ) above . the result obtained for one arch , i . e . the maxillary arch or the mandibular arch , is then used for determination of the inter arch relationship . the algorithm employed may also use some optimization criteria for obtaining the initial treatment stage . for example , the mandibular arch may be first aligned with the mandibular jaw by their central point ( an average distance between the central incisors ) to fall onto the mid palatal plane . the maxillary arch fixed onto the maxillary jaw may then be vertically aligned onto the mandibular jaw in the manner as described in pct publication no . wo 98 / 52493 . the alignment between the two jaws may be according to a fixed mandibular jaw or alternatively according to a fixed maxillary jaw . the following description refers to alignment of the maxilla according to the fixed mandibular jaw . however , it should be understood that the same steps apply in flow diagram , for alignment of the mandible according to the fixed maxilla jaw ( muatis mutandis ). for determining the inter arch relationship , first the parameters of the mandibular jaw are provided , with which the mandibular arch is aligned by determining their center antheroposterior point ( lower center point a - p56 ). then occlusion of the mandibular first molar with the maxillary first molar is dictated by the features of class ( i ) type of occlusion . if necessary , i . e . when the outcome obtained and displayed on the display screen is not the desired outcome or when the user decides it is required to change the class type , he may change the class by which the mandibular first molar and the maxillary first molar interlock until reaching the desired outcome . at times , the horizontal alignment performed will result in a mandibular distilization which is greater than that acceptable in real life orthodontic treatment . as a result , the procedure according to the invention may be carried out while each arch is positioned onto their respective jaw by defining their center antheroposterior point , the steps of interlocking the molar teeth according to standard orthodontic guidelines is not performed . the definition of the different classes which can be selected by the user in a manner as shown herein in fig3 which shows an example of a screen display showing a virtual model 100 with an upper jaw 102 and a lower jaw 103 . shown in this view is also a view control window 105 which permits control of position of orientation as well as view angles in a manner as described in pct application , publication . no . wo 98 / 53428 . the treatment parameters may be controlled through user interface window 106 . a front view of the same jaw is seen in fig4 . [ 0097 ] fig3 and 4 also show a virtual diagnostic setup model of an individual &# 39 ; s jaws , in its original , untreated form . once an orthodontic treatment is executed , a second three dimensional digital model is obtained . the second three dimensional digital model includes the jaw carrying teeth assembled with brackets and a wire . the teeth in the second model are arranged in an optimal dental and skeletal arrangement as obtained by the system of the invention . the teeth are automatically associated with brackets , the later set on a wire . the outcome of virtual treatment of the original model ( shown in fig3 and 4 ) is seen in fig5 and 6 . in this case the parameters of the system were automatically selected , including the arch wire ( rothoformiii - ovoid ), the brackets ( clarity ™), and class ( class i ) and yielded one optimal outcome . there are different classes which may be applied . class 1 , which is a default class in the system and is that applied in fig5 and 6 . change in the class may be achieved by ticking off box 120 in user interface window 106 and moving scroll bar 122 to either side . another parameter which may be selected is a lower center point , which may be automatically selected ( the automatic selection is dictated by the original center point in the individual &# 39 ; s jaw before treatment ), as in fig3 - 6 or , it may be moved between the interior posterior direction by ticking off box 124 and moving scroll bar 126 to either the left , as seen in fig7 or the right directions . in addition , the arch wire selection may be automatic , as in fig6 and 7 , which in this case is the default arch wire known as ortho formii - ovoid , but may also be manually selected within selection window 130 . the user may also control the parameters of which jaw will be fixed during the procedure . this is achieved by ticking in the set up design user interface 140 between the mandible 142 selection point or the maxilla 144 selection point . in the case of fig8 the parameters of maxillary jaw are fixed during the procedure and after aligning therewith the maxillary arch , the inter arch arrangement is performed . by the default of the system , the mandible parameters are fixed and the maxilla is moved accordingly . the reverse selection is shown in fig9 ( 145 ). thus , as can be seen , in view of the initial structure of the teeth , the two jaws are more forwardly oriented in fig9 as compared to fig8 . another manner of control is a virtual extraction of teeth . in fig1 , the treatment is preceded normally without extraction . by ticking alleviation box 138 and marking in the user interface window 106 the tooth or the to be extracted , the marked tooth , in this particular case , the second molar 148 is virtually extracted and the void 150 which is left is at least partially filled by lateral movement of the flanking teeth , as seen in fig1 . this feature of the system of the invention enables the user to decide whether extraction of a tooth in a real life treatment will be effective in achieving a desired orthodontic outcome before performing such an irreversible manipulation in the real life treatment . reference is made now to fig2 which shows the manner of using the results of the virtual orthodontic treatment for guidance for the real - life orthodontic treatment . following start 50 , the virtual model with the altered treatment state obtained through the virtual orthodontic treatment ( 36 in fig1 ) is inputted at 52 . the teeth are then , at 54 , permitted to reposition to their original position in the original diagnostic setup model with the orthodontic appliances remaining attached thereon . the association of the orthodontic appliances with the teeth is then recorded as 56 and this is served as an input for guidance of the real - life orthodontic treatment for the purpose of achieving results similar to those obtained in the virtual treatment in accordance with the invention . the manner of association of the orthodontic appliances may be displayed on the screen or may be outputted to a guidance system for proper placing of an orthodontic element on a tooth &# 39 ; s surface , such as that described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 334 , 772 .
the present invention provides a virtual orthodontic treatment method , comprising , providing a virtual diagnostic setup model of teeth of at least one jaw of an individual , associating virtual orthodontic appliances with all teeth in the model to obtain a first composite model and repositioning teeth into an initial treatment state according to pre - defined appliances - dependent rules ; in the initial treatment state , detaching one or more teeth from their corresponding one or more orthodontic appliances , repositioning one or more appliances , reassociating one or more appliances with the teeth , permitting the teeth to reposition according to the appliances - dependent rules to obtain an altered treatment state , yielding a better grade , according to one or more systems for grading an orthodontic model , as compared to the grade of initial treatment state .