A reasoning system to support the dental implant planning process

Abstract

The technological evolution over the last decades brought the necessity of integration among different areas of knowledge and an example is the integration between the Odontology and Engineering in order to find new solutions to improve the surgical process of dental implants. This work proposes a reasoning system to support the implant planning process based on tomographic images which offers support to the dentist. The system creates a three dimensional model of the dental arch and interact with the dentist supporting him in the selection of the most appropriate implant. So, the reasoning proceedings is divided into stages, the first is for selecting the region of interest inside the bone and the second is for defining the implant which should be used. This system is a planning tool to assist the dentist during the pre-operative, it will help him in the decision making. The article's main contributions are: i) conception and development of a computational reasoning tool that supports the process of dental implantation; ii) the interactivity in the development of surgical planning through a threedimensional geometric model of the dental arch; iii) the reduction of surgical time. © Springer-Verlag London 2013.