A new tool being developed by the University of Copenhagen and 3Shape will help orthodontists correctly fit braces onto teeth. Using artificial intelligence and virtual patients, the tool predicts how teeth will move, so as to ensure that braces are neither too loose nor too tight.
Many of us remember the feeling of having our braces regularly adjusted and retightened at the orthodontist's office. And every year, about 30 percent of Danish youth up to the age of 15 wear braces to align crooked teeth. Orthodontists use the knowledge gained from their educations and experience to perform their jobs, but without the possibilities that a computer can provide for predicting final results.
A new tool, developed in a collaboration between the University of Copenhagen's Department of Computer Science and the company 3Shape, makes it possible to simulate how braces should fit to give the best result without too many unnecessary inconveniences.
The tool has been developed with the help of scanned imagery of teeth and bone structures from human jaws, which artificial intelligence then uses to predict how sets of braces should be designed to best straighten a patient's teeth.
"Our simulation is able to let an orthodontist know where braces should and shouldn't exert pressure to straighten teeth. Currently, these interventions are based entirely upon the discretion of orthodontists and involve a great deal of trial and error. This can lead to many adjustments and visits to the orthodontist's office, which our simulation can help reduce in the long run," says Professor Kenny Erleben, who heads IMAGE (Image Analysis, Computational Modelling and Geometry), a research section at UCPH's Department of Computer Science.
Helps predict tooth movement
It's no wonder that it can be difficult to predict exactly how braces will move teeth, because teeth continue shifting slightly throughout a person's life. And, these movements are very different from mouth to mouth.
"The fact that tooth movements vary from one patient to another makes it even more challenging to accurately predict how teeth will move for different people. Which is why we've developed a new tool and a dataset of different models to help overcome these challenges," explains Torkan Gholamalizadeh, from 3Shape and a PhD from the Department of Computer Science.
As an alternative to the classic bracket and braces, a new generation of clear braces, known as aligners, has gained ground. Aligners are designed as a transparent plastic cast of the teeth that patients fit over their teeth.
Patients must wear aligners for at least 22 hours a day and they need to be swapped for new and tighter sets every two weeks. Because aligners are made of plastic, a person's teeth also change the contours of the aligner itself, something that the new tool also takes into account.
This content is taken from University of Copenhagen - Faculty of Science

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