A new technique for the creation of a computerized composite skull model

Purpose: 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. Materials and 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 craniomaxillo-facial 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. (C) 2003 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.