Gwen Swennen: A new 'surface to Cone Beam CT' registration method for enhanced diagnostics and virtual planning of orthognathic surgery

Orthognathic surgery treatment planning should include assessment of the entire face, especially in two third profiles, facial, upper dental and lower dental midlines, occlusal cants, and asymmetries, both in rest and dynamically. Dr Swennen emphasizes the importance of individualized treatment plans to achieve facial harmony and balance, good esthetics and function. Conventional treatment planning has been well established, however has been shifted routinely to 3D virtual planning for implant-, head and neck- and orthognathic surgery. 3D virtual planning creates a virtual articulator, allowing to pitch, roll and yaw mandible and maxilla to identify optimal jaw position and relation. However, single CBCT scanning can provide inaccurate results due to scattering and lead to falsified 3D model of patient anatomy. The current triple scan protocol to overcome this challenge is considered the technical gold standard, but complex and time consuming. Dr Swennen presents study results on a new surface to Cone Beam Registration method, and concludes that this smart fusion technology with a single CBCT patient scan reduces streak artefacts and patient Xray exposition, provides a facilitated, more streamlined and flexible workflow, and is highly and comparably accurate to the triple scan standard.