A new technique for the creation of a computerized composite skull model.
OBJECTIVE
The goals of this study were to develop a technique for creating a computerized composite skull model and to test its accuracy. The computerized composite skull model is the combination of a 3-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) bone model with digital dental models.


METHODS
A dry skull with intact dentition was used in development of the technique. The creation of the computerized composite skull model was divided into 3 steps. The first step was to create digital dental models. The second step was to create a 3D CT bone model of the craniomaxillofacial skeleton. The last step was to incorporate the digital dental models into the 3D CT skull model, creating a computerized composite skull model. The accuracy of the computerized composite skull model was assessed. Bone-to-bone, tooth-to-tooth, and bone-to-tooth measurements were made on the computerized composite skull model and the dry skull. Pearson correlation coefficient and linear regression tests were performed.


RESULTS
A technique to create a computerized composite skull model was developed. This computerized model not only represented bony structures from CT data but also reproduced dentition from digital dental models. For the bone-to-bone measurements, the mean difference between the computerized composite skull model and the dry skull was 0.5 +/- 0.6 mm. For the tooth-to-tooth measurements, the mean difference was 0.1 +/- 0.2 mm. For the bone-to-tooth measurements, the mean difference was 0.2 +/- 0.3 mm.


CONCLUSIONS
This study showed the feasibility of creating a computerized composite skull model as well as its accuracy.
Gateno
Jaime
J
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Xia
James
J
Teichgraeber
John F
JF
Rosen
Andrew
A
D002508:Cephalometry; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional / Q000379:methods; D016014:Linear Models; D008953:Models, Anatomic; D003765:Models, Dental; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012886:Skull / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D025321:Surgery, Computer-Assisted; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed