Three-dimensional statistical model for gingival contour reconstruction.

Optimal gingival contours around restored teeth and implants are of critical importance for restorative success and esthetics. This paper describes a novel computer-aided methodology for building a 3-D statistical model of gingival contours from a 3-D scan dental dataset and reconstructing missing gingival contours in partially edentulous patients. The gingival boundaries were first obtained from the 3-D dental model through a discrete curvature analysis and shortest path searching algorithm. Based on the gingival shape differential characteristics, the boundaries were demarcated to construct the gingival contour of each individual tooth. Through B-spline curve approximation to each gingival contour, the control points of the B-spline curves are used as the shape vector for training the model. Statistical analysis results demonstrate that the method can give a simple but compact model that effectively capture the most important variations in arch width and shape as well as gingival morphology and position. Within this statistical model, the morphologically plausible missing contours can be inferred based on a nonlinear optimization fitting from the global similarity transformation, the model shape deformation and a Mahalanobis prior. The reconstruction performance is evaluated through large simulated experimental data and a real patient case, which demonstrates the effectiveness of this approach.