title: Creating a digitized database of maxillofacial prostheses (obturators): A pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to create a digitized database of fabricated obturators to be kept for patients' potential emergency needs.
  
  
  METHODS
  A chairside intraoral scanner was used to scan the surfaces of an acrylic resin obturator. The scanned data was recorded and saved as a single standard tessellation language file using a three-dimensional modeling software. A simulated obturator model was manufactured using fused deposition modeling technique in a three-dimensional printer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The entire obturator was successfully scanned regardless of its structural complexity, modeled as three-dimensional data, and stored in the digital system of our clinic at a relatively small size (19.6 MB). A simulated obturator model was then accurately manufactured from these data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides a proof-of-concept for the use of digital technology to create a digitized database of obturators for edentulous maxillectomy patients.
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Medical and Dental University - Maxillofacial Prosthetics, Buniyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-0215-5335
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Elbashti
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Medical and Dental University - Maxillofacial Prosthetics, Buniyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Mariko
authors.identifier: 0000-0003-2802-8016
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hattori
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Medical and Dental University - Maxillofacial Prosthetics, Buniyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Yuka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sumita
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Medical and Dental University - Maxillofacial Prosthetics, Buniyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Amel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aswehlee
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Medical and Dental University - Maxillofacial Prosthetics, Buniyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Shigen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yoshi
authors.affiliation: Tokyo Medical and Dental University - Maxillofacial Prosthetics, Buniyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisashi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Taniguchi
keywords: 3D printing; Digitized database; Emergency; Intraoral scanner; Modeling; Obturators