3D printing of teeth from micro-CT scans for the purpose of research and training

在牙科教育中，在首次进行患者治疗之前，明显需要进行动手的临床前培训。多年来，已经开发了许多技术来教学生解剖学和进行各种牙科治疗。人工牙齿被广泛使用，并且已经用透明树脂复制，其中髓室和根管用不同的颜色区分。然而，提取的人类牙齿仍然是临床前牙髓训练期间使用的最流行的技术之一。这两种技术都有优点和缺点，标准做法是在临床前培训期间将人工模型和提取的人类牙齿相结合。多年来，拔牙专门用于牙科教育。然而，使用拔牙也有其缺点;例如交叉感染的可能性，对学生有潜在的传染性;这些牙齿的不可用性和拔牙的解剖变异性，这意味着对学生的有效评估并不统一。目前，已经使用不透明和透明树脂制作人造牙齿模型，以再现天然牙齿的特征用于教学目的。人工牙齿的好处是它们没有感染的风险，大量可用，允许通过它们的均匀性进行验证评估，可以不同以提供解剖学挑战，并且可以三维（3D）打印到训练模型中用于基于模拟的医学教育。然而，根据以前的研究，学生们认为人造牙齿是不令人满意的，因为这些牙齿的物理特性，使他们更难以治疗相比，天然牙齿。尽管报告的困难，学生认识到的优势，并建议改进，如树脂牙齿的硬度，以反映自然组织的硬度。由本科生进行的根管治疗程序有很高的失败率，这证实了在对患者进行治疗之前需要进行动手的临床前培训。评估缺乏统一性，对评估的有效性提出了质疑。如果给学生提供统一的牙齿，就可以进行有效的评估，并且具有与提取的人类牙齿相似属性的人造牙齿将为学生在现实生活中做好准备。该研究的主要目的是使用从X射线显微断层扫描（XMT）收集的数据创建人造牙齿，并通过3D打印技术制造，用于临床前培训。人工牙必须具有与拔牙相似的机械和物理性能，以克服传统人工牙的缺点，并为牙科学生提供逼真的临床治疗模拟。1.使用XMT从提取的人类牙齿中收集高清晰度数据集，前提是将这些数据3D打印成3D模型。开发一种将提取的人类牙齿数据集转换为适用于3D打印的可工作的3D模型文件的方法。测量并记录拔除牙的力学性能，并与人工牙进行比较.开发一种模仿已拔出的人牙机械性能的材料，可用于3D打印。5.创建一个人造牙齿，模仿提取的人类牙齿的物理特性，用于牙科培训，可用于简化当前的评估方法。

Within dental education, there is a distinct need for hands-on pre-clinical training before a patient's treatment is carried out for the first time. Throughout the years, numerous techniques have been developed to teach students the anatomy and to perform various dental treatments. Artificial teeth are used and have widely been replicated with transparent resins in which the pulp chamber and root canals are distinguishable with different colours. However, extracted human teeth remain one of the most popular techniques used during pre-clinical endodontic training. Both techniques have advantages and disadvantages, with the standard practice being a combination of artificial models and extracted human teeth during pre-clinical training. Extracted teeth, for many years, were exclusively used in dental education. However, the use of extracted teeth has its disadvantages; such as the possibility of cross-infection, being potentially infectious to students; the unavailability of these teeth and anatomical variability of extracted teeth, meaning valid assessment for students is not uniform. Currently, artificial teeth models have been made using opaque and transparent resin to reproduce features of natural teeth for teaching purposes. The benefits of artificial teeth are that they do not have the risk of infection, are available in large quantities, allow for validated assessment through their uniformity, can be different to offer anatomical challenges, and can be three-dimensionally (3D) printed into training models for simulation-based medical education. However, based on previous studies, students perceived artificial teeth as unsatisfactory because of the physical characteristics of these teeth, making them more difficult to treat compared to natural teeth. Despite the reported difficulties, students recognised the advantages and suggested improvements, such as the hardness of resin teeth, to reflect the hardness of natural tissues. Endodontic procedures performed by undergraduates' have a high frequency of failure, confirming the need for hands-on pre-clinical training before treatments on patients. The lack of uniformity in assessment, questions the validity of assessments. If students were provided with uniform teeth, a valid assessment could be carried out, and an artificial tooth with similar properties to extracted human teeth would prepare students for real-life environments.The main aim of the study is to create an artificial tooth using data collected from X-ray microtomography (XMT) and is manufactured by 3D printing techniques, for pre-clinical training. The artificial teeth must have similar mechanical and physical properties as extracted teeth to overcome the drawbacks of traditional artificial teeth and to offer dental students a realistic simulation of clinical treatments. 1. Collect high definition datasets using XMT from extracted human teeth, with the premise of 3D printing this data into 3D models.2. Develop a method of converting extracted human teeth datasets into a workable 3D model file, suitable for 3D printing.3. Measure and record the mechanical properties of extracted teeth and to compare to artificial teeth.4. Develop a material/s that mimic the mechanical properties of an extracted human tooth that can be used in 3D printing.5. Create an artificial tooth that mimics the physical properties of extracted human teeth to be used in dental training that can be used to standardise current assessment methods.