Summary
- Digital is the future of dentistry.
- Acuscape, Inc. has developed a fresh take on dental 3-D digital imaging.
- System would have wide range of applications in dentistry, and appears to hold great promise.
- Similar or related technologies are offered by Cadent's iTero system, Imaging Sciences International's i-CAT, and to a lesser degree, CEREC.
Analysis
General Comments
Acuscape, Inc. has developed a 3-D digital imaging system with a wide range of applications in dentistry. The system is based on Department of Defense image recognition technology. This new technology appears to hold great promise for dentistry.
While the article under consideration focuses on orthodontics, the type of technology it addressed has a much broader application within dentistry. Understanding the three-dimensional nature of the human skull touches on nearly every aspect of dental treatment, and is a concern to every dental specialty. A method shown to reproduce accurately teeth and bone relationships in a way that reduces patient exposure to radiation, discomfort, and risk of failed treatment, while simultaneously providing valuable diagnostic information to dental practitioners, would greatly improve on current modalities for dental modeling.
Current technologies that offer similar benefits include:
- i-CAT by Imaging Sciences International, which is a cone x-ray beam method of obtaining a very precise 3-D images;
- Cadent's iTero system, which is a method of creating a digital image of the mouth using technology developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology;
- and to a more limited extent, CEREC, which is a technology that allows digital modeling for use in the production of a specific type of dental restorations.
Further Background
The practice of dentistry has long been related to an understanding of the three-dimensional relationships of the jaws and teeth. Since the latter half of the last century, a greater emphasis has been placed on understanding the effects of the musculature and other soft structures of the head and neck, as well.
The chief method of understanding the mechanics of individual patients' through the years has involved gypsum (stone) models of patients' mouths. The most commonly cited drawbacks to this method include:
- patient discomfort during taking and retaking of dental impressions used to produce models of the mouth, and
- distortion inherent in the techniques of model making, resulting in inaccuracies in the models
For both patients and dental professionals, improving methods for visualizing anatomic relationships is a never-ending goal. Improving understanding of these relationships leads to increased rates of treatment success.
Dental offices are already becoming more and more digitized. Digital patient records, including computerized x-rays and charting of oral structures, are familiar territory for most dentists. It is not a broad leap to imagine that within 20 years, advanced methods of digital modeling will become commonplace in dental practices. Acuscape's system fits that trend. It represents application of new technology to an old goal. If proven to be an accurate system clinically while remaining cost-effective, this would represent a great leap forward.
This author consults with leading institutions through GLG
Analyses are solely the work of the authors and have not been edited or endorsed by GLG.
