Research Team Develops Model To Digitally Reconstruct Teeth

Engadget reports that Disney Research and ETH Zurich have developed a method “to digitally recreate teeth beyond the gum line” using “source data and everyday imagery.” After creating a model for an “average” set of teeth using 3D scans, the team “wrote an algorithm that adapts that model based on what it sees in the contours of teeth in photos and videos.” According to the article, the technology will benefit “digital actor models in animated movies and video games,” but also has “plenty of medical uses.” For example, dentists could use the technology “to previsualize a patient’s mouth before they sit in the operating chair.”

        A release on EurekAlert states that the model-based method to reconstruct teeth uses “just a few, non-invasive photos or a short smartphone video of the mouth.” In addition, the “method can digitally reconstruct teeth even though some teeth are obscured in the photos or videos by the edges of the mouth or by other teeth.”