24. Mechanical devices for reproducing mandibular movements. Non-adjustable, semi-adjustable and fully-adjustable articulators.
Explains what an articulator is and how its main parts work, including the casts, members, condylar elements, incisal pin and guide table. Covers how casts are positioned using a facebow and interocclusal record. Compares the non-adjustable, semi-adjustable and fully adjustable classes in a table, showing what each reproduces, its limitations and typical uses. Closes with a table of design theories, including Bonwill, Hall, Monson, Gysi and the helicoid occlusal plane.
Topic 24 of 75 in the MU Sofia syllabus for Preclinics of Dental Prosthetics (Dental Medicine, Year 2). The free AceMed note covers it in 5 sections, about 159 words (3 min of reading), with 13 flashcards.
In this note
Introduction
Parts of an articulator
Getting the casts in the right place
Classes of articulators
Theories behind articulator design
Introduction
An articulator is a mechanical device that holds the casts of the patient's jaws and copies the movements of the mandible. It mechanically reproduces the paths of the TMJs, the posterior determinants, so that crowns, bridges and dentures can be built to fit those movements before they reach the mouth.
Border movements are limited by ligaments and repeat reliably, which is why they can be set on the mechanical fossae of an instrument. The better an articulator copies them, the less adjustment the restoration needs in the mouth.
Getting the casts in the right place
For the casts to close on the right arc, they must sit at the same distance from the hinge as the patient's teeth sit from the condyles. The facebow records three points, the transverse hinge axis on both sides and a third reference point on the face, and transfers the position of the upper teeth to the articulator. The lower cast is then mounted against it with an interocclusal (bite) record.
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