A novel approach for a complete 3D tooth reconstruction using only 3D crown data

Current methods to produce 3-dimensional complete tooth (enamel, dentin and pulp) models involve conversion from tomographic data. In the paper a novel approach to obtain the complete 3D reconstruction of a tooth starting from the only 3D crown information is described. Using as reference models, five human posterior molars derived from micro-computed tomography (CT) data, specific computer aided design (CAD) modeling procedures were developed to create, in a simplified way, the surfaces of enamel, dentin and pulp of the teeth, starting from the data of a molar acquired by a non-contact reverse engineering (RE) system. To evaluate the simplified model, finite element method (FEM) simulations were performed and compared. The results from FEM analysis confirm the general validity of the proposed approach. This method allows to generate an efficient complete 3D reconstruction of teeth with a good approximation of the shape, due to the small number of parameters to adjust, and requires little interaction from the user. The described method can be successfully adopted to generate detailed 3D CAD models of teeth starting only from the crown data, acquired by non-contact RE systems (structured-light scanners, laser scanners or intra-oral laser scanners). It could be quickly implemented for other dental or biomechanical applications without the use of more expensive CT and micro-CT.