COMPUTERIZED 3-D RECONSTRUCTION OF 2 DOUBLE TEETH

''Double teeth'' is a root malformation in the dentition and the purpo se of this study was to reconstruct three-dimensionally the external a nd internal morphology of two ''double teeth''. The first set of ''dou ble teeth'' was formed by the conjunction of a mandibular molar and a premolar, and the second by a conjunction of a maxillary molar and a s upernumerary tooth. The process of 3-D reconstruction included serial cross-sectioning, photographs of the sections, digitization of the pho tographs, extraction of the boundaries of interest for each section, s urface representation using triangulation and, finally, surface render ing using photorealistic effects. The resulting three-dimensional repr esentations of the two teeth helped us visualize their external and in ternal anatomy. The results showed: a) in the first case, fusion of th e radical and coronal dentin, as well as fusion of the pulp chambers; and b) in the second case, fusion only of the radical dentin and the p ulp chambers.