A new generation of AI smile-design software promises to turn a patient's photos and intraoral scan into a finished 3D design and a print-ready mock-up with almost no manual drafting. A look at the imaging pipeline behind the automation, what the machine is really doing...
A face scan knows the smile but not the bone. A CBCT knows the bone but not the skin. An intraoral scan knows the teeth to the micron but nothing above the gumline. Fuse all three into one aligned 3D record and you have something...
The intraoral scanner records the mouth as it looks - a flawless colour surface, and nothing beneath it. The radiograph records the mouth as light passes through it - the roots, the bone, the hidden lesion - and almost nothing of the surface. Each is...