Background
tooth, atrophies
SLS, ATROPHIES
The wisdom teeth extraction influences maxillofacial hard tissue dimensions and may affect facial soft tissue dimensions. Previous research proved that the alveolar bone is tooth-dependent tissue and atrophies due to the loss of the tooth [Presume “face slim” happens, the soft tissue change is relatively small which needs to be measured by precise detection methods. Therefore, it is vital to record the 3D facial soft tissue morphology pre and post extraction under the same condition and conduct proper measurement procedure in the software.Structured light scanning (SLS) is one of the 3D facial recording methods, producing the shape, color, and texture of human faces in OBJ format. The nominal accuracy of the FaceScan SLS system (Isravision, Darmstadt, Germany) is 0.2 mm. A standardized procedure was developed by the author in a previous study [In most studies, 3D facial morphology assessments are still in the form of length and angle [Distance map is another commonly used method in the studies of 3D facial morphology, which is often used to evaluate anthropometric facial features [Facial volume measurement has been widely used in orthognathic surgery [The common method to measure soft tissue volume change is constructing a closed entity between two surfaces and testing the entity volume [With the development of Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) image analysis techniques, 3D indicators are more and more commonly used to evaluate the bone tissues [The purpose of this study was to explore the volume changes of facial hard and soft tissues after third molars extraction, as well as develop a reproducible clinical protocol to precisely assess facial soft tissue volume change. The article hypothesized the extraction of ipsilateral wisdom teeth do not influence the facial hard and soft tissue volume, and there is no correlation between the facial soft tissue volume change (STVC) and the facial hard tissue volume change (HTVC).