Teaching 3D sculpting to facial plastic surgeons

Abstract

This article describes the authors' course, which takes facial plastic surgeons through specific exercises to demonstrate the esthetic impact of 3D manipulations of the nose and face. The course components are described, which include 3D assessment, exercises in manual dexterity, and improving imagination in sculpting facial and nasal features for the optimal esthetic result and match to a given facial shape. The overlap and relationship between a course in 3D sculpting in facial plastic surgery and current 3D tools for design and image analysis being used for facial plastic surgery are discussed.