Layered rendering model for human teeth

approved: Michael J. Bailey This study introduces a layered model for rendering human teeth. Human teeth exhibit complex light interaction due to their layered structure. While the lighting responses of teeth have been studied in the dental industry for the production of realistic looking dentures, to our knowledge this is the first study of its type in computer graphics for the production of realistic renderings. It evaluates the role played by the two outermost layers enamel and dentin. We approximate the color of teeth using a set of physical properties for each layer namely scattering, absorption coefficients, anisotropy and refractive indices. The translucency of enamel results in subsurface light activity making dentin a major contributor to the final appearance of tooth. The reflectance profiles extracted using optical properties based on multipole diffusion approximation are used to the determine diffuse contribution of teeth. The diffuse along with specular contribution give rise to final tooth color. An interactive OpenGL based user interface with the listing of the physical properties considered over red, green and blue color channel provides one with the flexibility visualize the effects of these properties at interactive rates. The final rendering is carried out on a graphics processing unit using GLSL shader language. c ©Copyright by Sudarshanram Shetty December 3, 2010 All Rights Reserved Layered Rendering Model for Human Teeth