My first 3-D photograph using 3-Shape

A couple of weeks ago Mr C came to see me. One of his lower incisors was tender and loose. It had also drifted out towards his lower lip and left a gap between it and the two adjacent teeth. Being a retired professional photographer, he couldn’t resist taking his own photograph of his problem tooth!

I took an x-Ray picture of this tooth. It revealed two areas of external resorption and some loss of the bone around this tooth. There are a number of ‘local’ and ‘systemic’ causes of this type of resorption. The most likely local cause of the external resorption in Mr C’s case was previous trauma. He could well have accidentally knocked this tooth many years ago and the resorption occurred slowly over a number of years. Once Mr C was in possession of all the facts, he decided to have this tooth extracted.

 Treatment options

This tooth needed to be extracted because it was so loose and painful. The options for restoring the gap would be:

  • A denture (removable plate)
  • A bridge
  • A dental implant

After discussing the options in detail with Mr C, he opted for a resin bonded bridge.

His treatment plan was:

  1. Extract his lower right dental incisor
  2. Add some tooth-cloured filling material onto the sides of the adjacent teeth to close off the gap
  3. Take a digital photograph of his mouth
  4. Once extracted, modify his extracted tooth and glue it in position as a temporary measure
  5. Allow the area to heal
  6. Have a resin bonded bridge constructed and glue it into place

3-D Photographs ⇒ 3-D Printing

The scan of Mr C’s mouth produced the most amazing 3-D printed models:


Construction of the bridge upon the models


Thin metal wings are used to glue to bridge tooth in place


This is how the bridge looks in the patient’s mouth