Comparison of Visual Registration Approaches of 3D Models for Orthodontics

We propose to apply vision techniques to develop a main tool for orthodontics: the virtual occlusion of two dental casts. For that purpose, we process photos of the patient mouth and match points between these photos and the dental 3D models. From a set of 2D/3D matches of the two arcades, we calculate the projection matrix, before the mandible registration under the maxillary through a rigid transformation. We perform the mandible registration minimizing the reprojection errors. Two computation methods, depending on the knowledge of camera intrinsic parameters, are compared. Tests are carried out both on virtual and real images. In the virtual case, assumed as perfect, we evaluate the robustness against noise and the increase of performance using several views. Projection matrices and registration efficiency are evaluated respectively by reprojection errors and the differences between the rigid transformation and the reference pose, recorded on the six degrees of freedom.