ALEXANDRIA, Va., July 30 -- United States Patent no. 12,370,012, issued on July 29.
"Computer-guided endodontic procedure" was invented by Charles Maupin (Lubbock, Texas).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "In embodiments of a method for visually guided access cavity preparation, the method makes use of a 2D image of a phantom implant matching a desired access cavity path to a pulp chamber of a tooth anatomy, the phantom implant being non-tapered along its length and having a diameter no greater than 1.0 mm. The phantom implant is overlaid over a 2D or 3D image of the tooth anatomy and drilling of the access cavity path is monitored using a visual display that compares the drilled access cavity pat...