Robert J Lee1, Andre Weissheimer2, John Pham3, Leslie Go4, Luciane Macedo de Menezes5, W Ronald Redmond6, James F Loos7, Glenn T Sameshima8, Hongsheng Tong9. 1. Dental student, School of Dentistry, University of California at Los Angeles, Los Angeles, Calif. 2. Professor, Department of Orthodontics, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 3. Biomedical and computer engineer, Huntington Beach, Calif. 4. Research assistant, Advanced Orthodontic Program, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif. 5. Associate professor, Department of Orthodontics, Pontifical Catholic University of Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 6. Associate professor, Department of Orthodontics, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry, University of the Pacific, Stockton, Calif. 7. Clinical professor, Advanced Orthodontic Program, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif. 8. Associate professor and director, Advanced Orthodontic Program, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif. 9. Clinical assistant professor, Advanced Orthodontic Program, Herman Ostrow School of Dentistry, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, Calif. Electronic address: drhstong@yahoo.com.
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: A significant objective of orthodontic treatment is to achieve proper and stable tooth positions that involve not only the crowns, but also their roots. However, the current methods of clinically monitoring root alignment are unreliable and inaccurate. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a methodology that can accurately identify root position in a clinical situation. METHODS: Pretreatment and posttreatment cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and extraoral laser scans of study models of a patient were obtained. Threshold segmentation of the CBCT scans was performed, resulting in 3-dimensional surface models. The pretreatment CBCT teeth were isolated from their respective arches for individual tooth manipulation. These isolated pretreatment CBCT teeth were superimposed onto the posttreatment surface scan depicting the expected root position setup. To validate the accuracy of the expected root position setup, it was compared with the true root position represented by the posttreatment CBCT scan. Color displacement maps were generated to measure any differences between the expected and true root positions. RESULTS: Color map analysis through crown superimposition showed displacement differences of 0.148 ± 0.411 mm for the maxillary roots and 0.065 ± 0.364 mm for the mandibular roots. CONCLUSIONS: This methodology has been demonstrated to be an accurate and reliable approach to visualize the 3-dimensional positions of all teeth, including the roots, with no additional radiation applied.
INTRODUCTION: A significant objective of orthodontic treatment is to achieve proper and stable tooth positions that involve not only the crowns, but also their roots. However, the current methods of clinically monitoring root alignment are unreliable and inaccurate. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to develop a methodology that can accurately identify root position in a clinical situation. METHODS: Pretreatment and posttreatment cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) and extraoral laser scans of study models of a patient were obtained. Threshold segmentation of the CBCT scans was performed, resulting in 3-dimensional surface models. The pretreatment CBCT teeth were isolated from their respective arches for individual tooth manipulation. These isolated pretreatment CBCT teeth were superimposed onto the posttreatment surface scan depicting the expected root position setup. To validate the accuracy of the expected root position setup, it was compared with the true root position represented by the posttreatment CBCT scan. Color displacement maps were generated to measure any differences between the expected and true root positions. RESULTS: Color map analysis through crown superimposition showed displacement differences of 0.148 ± 0.411 mm for the maxillary roots and 0.065 ± 0.364 mm for the mandibular roots. CONCLUSIONS: This methodology has been demonstrated to be an accurate and reliable approach to visualize the 3-dimensional positions of all teeth, including the roots, with no additional radiation applied.