3D Database of Clinical Oral and Maxillofacial Anatomy
Jul 11, 2023
Western University / University of Toronto
Rapidly creating an open, mixed-reality 3D database of head and neck anatomy so dental students and residents can practice in a virtual clinic instead of only relying on static atlases.
What I did
Anatomy teaching in dentistry is still heavily textbook-based, even though most clinical decisions depend on understanding 3D structures. Partnering with teams at Western University and the University of Toronto, I:
Helped design and build a 3D database of oral and maxillofacial structures derived from clinical imaging and anatomical references.
Worked on a mixed-reality educational tool that lets learners explore these models in situ—rotating, dissecting, and viewing key landmarks in real scale.
Defined the educational use cases: local anaesthesia landmarks, surgical approaches, and implant planning scenarios.
Co-authored the research study describing the rapid development pipeline and deployment to students during the pandemic.
Results
Deployed the resource to dental students who were suddenly unable to access in-person labs, providing a remote yet hands-on way to learn anatomy.
Published the work in the Journal of Dental Education, highlighting a scalable framework for other schools to build similar resources.
The project established a re-usable 3D content library that now supports additional simulation and teaching initiatives in OMFS and dentistry.
