Researchers apply digital prosthodontics to music education

Dental Tribune International

Tue. 13. October 2026

save

TOKYO, Japan: Digital technologies established in prosthodontics may have applications beyond dental treatment. Researchers at Institute of Science Tokyo have demonstrated this potential in music education by developing a 3D-printed guide designed to reproduce the positioning of a musician’s lips in relation to a traditional Japanese flute. The team translated an experienced player’s lip–instrument relationship into a physical reference that could support musical training.

Playing the shakuhachi, a traditional Japanese end-blown flute, requires precise coordination of lip shape, airflow and instrument positioning. Unlike instruments that direct the airflow towards the blowing edge, the shakuhachi requires players to control how their breath meets the blowing edge. Even small adjustments can affect sound production, making the correct positioning of the lips and instrument difficult for beginners to learn through observation and verbal instruction alone. To address this challenge, the researchers drew inspiration from digital prosthodontics to create a customised positioning device.

“We developed a workflow to fabricate a guide that records and reproduces the positional relationship between an expert player’s lips and the shakuhachi during performance,” lead author Dr Tamaki Hada, a researcher in the Department of Oral Devices and Materials at Institute of Science Tokyo, said in a press release.

Translating a playing position into a digital model

Fabrication of the instrument positioning guide. STL file imported into the 3D-printing software (a). 3D printing of the positioning guide (b). Positioning guide before removal of the supporting structures (c). Finished positioning guide (d). Placement of the positioning guide (e). (Image: Hada et al., licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0)

For this proof-of-concept study, the researchers obtained intra-oral and facial scans of an experienced male shakuhachi player, as well as a scan of his instrument. They then scanned the player’s face and the shakuhachi simultaneously while he produced sound in the target playing position, in order to record their spatial relationship. Using CAD software, the team integrated the datasets, employing dental landmarks, the occlusal plane and facial reference information to establish the position of the instrument’s blowing edge relative to the player’s lips.

This digital model provided the basis for a customised positioning guide. The researchers designed a spherical model to fit into the space between the musician’s chin and the shakuhachi and developed it into a hollow structure to reduce its weight. The final device was fabricated using an autoclavable, biocompatible photopolymer.

Rather than relying exclusively on a player’s sense of the correct position, the guide provides a physical reference for a digitally recorded lip–instrument relationship. A position recorded from an experienced player could be used as a reference to design customised guides for beginners.

Potential applications

Beyond its immediate application, the present research illustrates how technologies developed for dental applications could be adapted to other situations requiring precise control of the relationship between facial anatomy and external objects. “Beyond music education, we expect this concept could potentially be extended to maxillofacial prosthetics, orofacial rehabilitation and other extra-oral devices requiring precise perioral spatial control,” Dr Hada concluded.

The study demonstrates the potential for greater exchange between dentistry and music education. In a separate area of overlap between dentistry and professional music, a recent study of professional orchestra musicians, previously reported by Dental Tribune International, found that more than one-third reported orofacial pain and that most felt poorly informed about instrument-related oral health risks. The authors highlighted the need for structured, career-long oral health education to support the long-term performance of musicians.

The study, titled “Extension of prosthodontic digital guide workflow to reproduce lip–object spatial relationships: Application to an air-reed instrument”, was published online on 11 July 2026 in Journal of Prosthodontic Research, ahead of final publication.