Introduction
In the field of orthodontic treatment, treatment simulations using digital tools are useful for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning. It helps communication with patients as well. Recently, it is even possible to create a “Dental AVATAR”, a virtual patient.
Discussion
Three kinds of imaging modalities, CBCT scan, intraoral scan, and facial scan are integrated to create a dental avatar. Previous studies have reported that the integration of facial scan with smile and intraoral scan can be used to evaluate this virtually. However, these studies have some limitations. In their facial scan images, the smile was a social smile rather than a natural smile. In addition, maintaining a smiling face was quite hard due to a long scan time. It is known that the registration accuracy is increased with a large matching area, while the registration accuracy is decreased because maxillary incisors are not sufficiently exposed in social smile. Even with some facial scanners using a laser scanning method, patients need to close their eyes.
Conclusion
The purpose of this presentation is to overcome these limitations and to introduce a method to create a digital virtual patient by combining CBCT, intraoral scan and facial scan data with a high integration accuracy. This will be helpful for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning as well as favorable communication with patients.
