Usage of reverse engineering software and Micro_CT technique in the reconstruction of fine 3D FEA model of tooth structure

    WANG Jiang, NI Longª²Xing, XU Chao, HAN Bing

    Department of Endodontics, Stomatology Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi¬ðan 710033,China, College of Aerospace, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi¬ðan 710072, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To explore the value of the combination of the reverse engineering software and Micro_CT technique in the reconstruction of the fine threeª²dimentional finite element analysis (3D FEA) model of the tooth structure and to reconstruct the fine 3D FEA model of the crown of human maxillary first premolar. METHODS: Micro_CT was used to scan the intact maxillary first premolar. Import the CT images to Mimics V8.1 software and prefabricate the 3D model. Then, after improvement in the Geomagic 7 software, the model that can be identified by the FEA software was accomplished. At last, in Ansys 9.0 software, by Boolean operation, different parts of the crown(enamel, dentin and pulp cavity) were separated, and the 3D meshes were created respectively. RESULTS: The fine 3D FEA model of the crown of the maxillary first premolar was constructed successfully. After 3D meshing, the enamel had 154, 355 tetrahedral elements, the dentin had 256, 304 tetrahedral elements, in total, the crown had 410, 659 10ª²nodeª²tetrahedral elements. The accuracy of the model was very high. CONCLUSION: The combination of reverse engineering software and Micro_CT technique is an effective way for the reconstruction of fine 3D FEA model of the tooth structure. ......