[3D analysis of occlusal surfaces of teeth and their contacts. Part I. Development of a method for assessing the area of the occlusal surface, the severity of its relief and the histogram of contacts].

The article is devoted to the development of methods and software for 3D analysis of the occlusal surface of teeth and occlusal contacts between antagonists. An algorithm for accurately determining the boundaries of the occlusal surface on the tooth surface for subsequent quantitative analysis: the area of the occlusal surface, the relief index, and the height of the cusps is presented. The area of not only direct contacts, but also near-contact zones in any of the selected surface separation ranges is quantified. Examples with geometric primitives and clinical examples explain the features and interpretation of 3D analysis datas obtained using the developed software.