Three-Dimensional Analysis of Volumetric Changes During Palatal Wound Healing After Soft-Tissue Harvesting

The growing demand for aesthetic and functional outcomes in periodontal and implant procedures has increased the use of connective tissue grafts harvested from the palate. Objective monitoring of the donor site remains challenging because healing involves progressive three-dimensional morphological changes and visible chromatic variations of the mucosal surface. This pilot feasibility study proposes an optical sensing and computer-vision workflow based on longitudinal intraoral scanner acquisitions to quantify palatal wound healing after soft-tissue harvesting. A TRIOS 3 intraoral scanner was used as a non-invasive sensing device to acquire textured three-dimensional datasets of the palatal donor area at baseline, immediately after surgery, and during follow-up at 1 and 2 weeks and at 1 and 3 months. The scanner output, consisting of surface geometry and color information, was processed as multimodal 3D data. The workflow included mesh preprocessing, reference-based registration of serial scans, robust alignment using geometric, normal, and chromatic cues, region-of-interest identification, and signed volumetric difference computation. Sensor-related uncertainty was addressed through an additional in vivo repeatability assessment on healthy volunteers and by comparison with previously published accuracy and precision data for the TRIOS scanner series. The resulting volumetric maps and healing curves enabled objective quantification of local tissue loss, swelling, and progressive recovery over time. Chromatic information from the textured scans was also considered as an additional sensing descriptor of mucosal healing. By integrating intraoral optical sensing, three-dimensional surface reconstruction, multimodal mesh registration, and quantitative volumetric analysis, the proposed approach provides a preliminary non-invasive framework for monitoring palatal donor-site healing. Six patients undergoing palatal soft-tissue harvesting were monitored using a TRIOS 3 intraoral scanner at baseline, immediately after surgery, and during follow-up at 1 and 2 weeks and at 1 and 3 months. Although all clinically evaluated patients exhibited complete clinical re-epithelialization by 3 months, quantitative 3D analysis revealed a persistent residual volumetric deficit, indicating that visual healing does not necessarily correspond to complete soft-tissue volume restoration. This sensor-based methodology may support clinical follow-up, improve the objectivity of soft-tissue assessment, and contribute to the development of digital biomarkers for oral wound healing.