ABSTRACT
Three-dimensional (3-D) laser scans can provide a 3-D image of the face and it is efficient in examining specific structures of the craniofacial soft tissues. Due to the increasing concerns with the soft tissues and expansion of the treatment range, a need for 3-D soft tissue analysis has become urgent. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the scanning error of the Vivid 900 (Minolta, Tokyo, Japan) 3-D laser scanner and Rapidform program (Inus Technology Inc., Seoul, Korea) and to evaluate the mean error and the magnification percentage of the image obtained from 3-D laser scans. In addition, soft tissue landmarks that are easy to designate and reproduce in 3-D images of normal, Class II and Class III malocclusion patients were obtained. The conclusions are as follows; scanning errors of the Vivid 900 3-D laser scanner using a manikin were 0.16 mm in the X axis, 0.15 mm in the Y axis, and 0.15 mm in the Z axis. In the comparison of actual measurements from the manikin and the 3-D image obtained from the Rapidform program, the mean error was 0.37 mm and the magnification was 0.66%. Except for the right soft tissue gonion from the 3-D image, errors of all soft tissue landmarks were within 2.0 mm. Glabella, soft tissue nasion, endocanthion, exocanthion, pronasale, subnasale, nasal alare, upper lip point, cheilion, lower lip point, soft tissue B point, soft tissue pogonion, soft tissue menton and preaurale had especially small errors. Therefore, the Rapidform program can be considered a clinically efficient tool to produce and measure 3-D images. The soft tissue landmarks proposed above are mostly anatomically important points which are also easily reproducible. These landmarks can be beneficial in 3-D diagnosis and analysis.