Analogue face-bow registration transfer to virtual articulator - optimised clinical-laboratory method
Dr. Marcin Szerszeń1, Dr. Katarzyna Mańka-Malara1, Sylwia Jakubowska2, Prof. Jolanta Kostrzewa-Janicka1
1 Department of Prosthodontics, Medical University of Warsaw,
2 Department of Prosthodontics, Student Scientific Group, Medical University of Warsaw
Objectives
The vast majority of digital protocols for prosthetic treatment do not take into account the registration of the jaw's position in relation to other elements of the skull. Advanced laboratory software forces the position of the scanned dental arches to be determined in the three-dimensional space of the virtual articulator; however, in the absence of available data, they are determined manually by a dental technician. Digital face bows available on the market are relatively expensive tools intended for specialised offices focused on advanced prosthetic patient treatment. The material- and time-consuming method is scanning the analog articulator with casts mounted in a fixed position.
Materials and Methods
Registration of dentition and maximum intercuspation was performed using an intraoral scanner and exported from the native software. Then registration using an analog face-bow was taken. The facebow fork block and fork were then placed in the transfer stand and mounted on the transfer stand table using an articulation gyspum. The entire unit was scanned using an extraoral scanner in a dental laboratory. The data was transferred to CAD software.
Results
Based on the software's imposition options, intraoral maxillary scans were assembled with impressions on the facebow fork and the base of the transfer stand table aligned with the base of the virtual articulator. The mandibular dental arch scans were then matched to the maxillary scans based on the registration of maximum intercuspation.
Conclusions
Based on the data sent to the dental laboratory, the scanned intraoral situation was positioned in the three-dimensional space of the virtual articulator in a simple and repeatable protocol. The presented procedure makes it possible to eliminate analog stages of the procedure - casting models and their assembly in the articulator.