Accuracy Assessment of Three-dimensional Surface Reconstructions of In vivo Teeth from Cone-beam Computed Tomography

The accuracy of three-dimensional (3D) reconstructions from cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) has been particularly important in dentistry, which will affect the effectiveness of diagnosis, treatment plan, and outcome in clinical practice. The aims of this study were to assess the linear, volumetric, and geometric accuracy of 3D reconstructions from CBCT and to investigate the influence of voxel size and CBCT system on the reconstructions results.

Fifty teeth from 18 orthodontic patients were assigned to three groups as NewTom VG 0.15 mm group (NewTom VG; voxel size: 0.15 mm; n = 17), NewTom VG 0.30 mm group (NewTom VG; voxel size: 0.30 mm; n = 16), and VATECH DCTPRO 0.30 mm group (VATECH DCTPRO; voxel size: 0.30 mm; n = 17). The 3D reconstruction models of the teeth were segmented from CBCT data manually using Mimics 18.0 (Materialise Dental, Leuven, Belgium), and the extracted teeth were scanned by 3Shape optical scanner (3Shape A/S, Denmark). Linear and volumetric deviations were separately assessed by comparing the length and volume of the 3D reconstruction model with physical measurement by paired t- test. Geometric deviations were assessed by the root mean square value of the imposed 3D reconstruction and optical models by one-sample t-test. To assess the influence of voxel size and CBCT system on 3D reconstruction, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used (μ = 0.05).

The linear, volumetric, and geometric deviations were -0.03 ± 0.48 mm, -5.4 ± 2.8%, and 0.117 ± 0.018 mm for NewTom VG 0.15 mm group; -0.45 ± 0.42 mm, -4.5 ± 3.4%, and 0.116 ± 0.014 mm for NewTom VG 0.30 mm group; and -0.93 ± 0.40 mm, -4.8 ± 5.1%, and 0.194 ± 0.117 mm for VATECH DCTPRO 0.30 mm group, respectively. There were statistically significant differences between groups in terms of linear measurement (P < 0.001), but no significant difference in terms of volumetric measurement (P = 0.774). No statistically significant difference were found on geometric measurement between NewTom VG 0.15 mm and NewTom VG 0.30 mm groups (P = 0.999) while a significant difference was found between VATECH DCTPRO 0.30 mm and NewTom VG 0.30 mm groups (P = 0.006).

The 3D reconstruction from CBCT data can achieve a high linear, volumetric, and geometric accuracy. Increasing voxel resolution from 0.30 to 0.15 mm does not result in increased accuracy of 3D tooth reconstruction while different systems can affect the accuracy.