Abstract
Background:
Edentulous patients often experience psychological occlusal fatigue, dysphonia and facial deformity which severely decreased quality of life. Recovery of facial aesthetic is one of important concerns of dentulous patients, however, traditional two-dimensional pictures are not enough to accurately evaluate the three-dimensional changes in patients after full-arch implant restoration. Facial scanning technology, a cutting-edge validation method for facial transformation evaluation device, makes it possible to realize high-precision facial scanning and measuring.
Methods:
Edentulous patients were prospectively enrolled in this study. Preoperative and postoperative Cone beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) and intra-oral scans were obtained for each patient. The CBCT and intra-oral images were then imported into the three dimensional (3D) facial scanner, where they were reconstructed into three-dimensional models for evaluation.
Results:
A total of 10 patients were included in this study. All edentulous patients underwent three-dimensional facial scanning before and after implant restoration and were evaluated for facial aesthetic parameters. The mean age of the patients was 64.9 ± 11.4 years (range, 38–78 years), and the mean follow-up time was 12 months (range, 3–24 months). All patients had satisfactory outcomes without major complications. This method accurately validates the postoperative facial transformation in all patients. All measured aesthetic parameters suggest that the patient received a very favorable improvement in the contour of the face.
Conclusions:
By a high precision scanner that oral implant restorations can effectively improve the convexity of the lower third of the face and lips in edentulous jaw patients, thus realizing an improvement in facial aesthetics.