title: Rapid prototyping and 3D-virtual models for operative dentistry education in Brazil.
abstract: Many dental students struggle for visual recognition when first exposed to the study of tooth cavity preparation in the operative dentistry laboratory. Rapid prototypes and virtual models of different cavity preparations were developed for the incoming first-year class of 2010 at the Dental School of Federal University of Uberlândia, Brazil, to help them to visualize the subtle differences in cavity preparations and are described in this article. Rapid prototyping techniques have been used in dental therapy, mainly for the fabrication of models to ease surgical planning in implantology, orthodontics, and maxillofacial prostheses. On the other hand, the application of these technologies associated with 3D-virtual models in dental education is waiting to be exploited, once they have significant potential to complement conventional training methods in dentistry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Operative Dentistry, Federal University of Uberlândia, Av. Para 1720, Bl. 4L-A, Uberlândia Minas Gerais 38400-902, Brazil. paulovsoares@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Paulo Vinícius
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Giovana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: de Almeida Milito
authors.forename: Fabrícia Araújo
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Bruno Rodrigues
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Carlos José
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Murilo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Sousa Menezes
authors.forename: Paulo César
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: de Freitas Santos-Filho
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D003194:Computer-Assisted Instruction / Q000379:methods; D003737:Dental Cavity Preparation; D003814:Dentistry, Operative / Q000193:education*; D004497:Education, Dental / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D003765:Models, Dental