The articulator is offering greater benefits in clinical use, and you will find different types of articulators that vary depending on the type of restoration and personal preference. The dental articulator is the key to providing proper occlusion to the restoration and function throughout the full range of mandibular movements.
The dental articulator is nothing but the mechanical device that represents the temporomandibular joint, and proper jaw members which are attached to the maxillary and mandibular casts.
So, let’s find out the different types of articulators and know some of the recommended products.
What is a dental articulator?
The dental articulators are nothing but they are a kind of mechanical instrument, and it is mainly used to recreate the relationship of the temporomandibular joints with the jaws. Also, the articulator will stimulate the patient’s mandibular movements and helps to achieve both static and dynamic relationship.
In short, the articular is considered the instrument that will reproduce the range of movement of the jaws. Mostly, the mandibular and maxillary cast will be attached to the articulator so that the functional and para-functional relationship between the teeth can be studied clearly.
You will find different types of articulators, and here are some of the most common types.
Types of articulators:
Depending on the spatial movements and trajectory they perform the articulators are of different types. Each articulator will help to achieve the greater complexity of treatments.
- Hinge articulator
The hinge articular is also known as a non-adjustable articulator, and they are not considered articulators, but they can be supportive instrument. The main role of the hinge articulator is to reproduce the static relationship with the model which is mounted. The main advantage of such a hinge articulator is that it is small, and allows easy and quick organization of the models.
The hinge articulator comes in two different classes which are Class Ⅰ and Class Ⅱ;
For Class Ⅰ;
- Simplicity of use
- Easy to fix
- Available for both partial or complete models
For Class Ⅱ;
- Hinge type and round base
- Easy assembly even for the upper jaw
- Chrome-plated color
- In the upper jaw, there will screw adjustment
- Semi-adjustable articulator
The semi-adjustable articulator is the most common articulator in the dental clinic, and it is the main responsibility to allow the majority of the treatments to carry out. They are especially suitable for dentistry studies and training.
They can be used for all types of mandibular movement, and they will stimulate the condylar trajectories. It allows reproduce the patient’s maxillary and mandibular relationship with the condyles fully.
- Fully-adjustable articulator
The fully-adjustable articulator will allow the independent adjustment of each condyle, and it will duplicate the trajectory. This articulator will be able to record the exact axis rotation, and measure the lateral and protrusive movements.
Difference between a semi-adjustable articulator and a fully-adjustable articulator:
- The fully-adjustable articulator will have an intercondylar distance of 110mm, and the semi-adjustable articulator is smaller than that so it can’t reach the dimension of the human skull
- The fully-adjustable articulator tends to have anatomical settings as they are fixed in upper and lower members, but the semi-adjustable articulator looks fancy and they won’t function properly
- The semi-adjustable articulator lacks the ability to change intercondylar distance but the fully-adjustable articulator is not
Applications of fully-adjustable articulator:
- The fully-adjustable articulator will allow the replication of 3D movement of the mandibular motions
- It will accept facebow records, interocclusal records, protrusive records, and lateral records
- It is mainly utilized for more complex types of face-bow and lateral records
- It is mainly designed to reproduce the entire character including border movements, immediate and progressive lateral translation, curvature, and direction of condylar inclination
Recommended products from Specialty Dental Studio:
- Semi-adjustable articulator
The semi-adjustable articulator is very useful for static and dynamic maxilla-mandibular positions. As it comes with high-precision and multiple adjustments it will achieve excellent reproduction in all the movements. The sturdy construction frame offers exceptional stability and it provides outstanding visibility. This articulator is compatible with the Amann Girrbach Artex Design, and along with the articulator, you will find disposable mounting plates, magnetic baseplates, and splitex key accessories.
Each semi-adjustable articulator comes with a 3D calibrator, and the restoration model can be transferred from one to another with complete accurate calibration. It offers features such as;
- Offer higher accuracy
- Comes with multiple settings
- Offers robust structure and greater stability
- Exceptional visibility
- Hinge articulator
The hinge articulators are also called hinged dental occluders, and they are considered support instruments. It helps to develop a static relationship with the model which is mounted. But you will observe the static interdental relationship only in the occlusal closure. The main use of this product is using them for arbitrary methods, placing, and fixing models.
The main advantage of this articulator is that it is a small device, so both the cost and assembly time are reduced.
- Fully-adjustable articulator
As the name suggests, the fully-adjustable articulator will understand all the movements of the patient, and the centric and reproducible system of this articulator will guarantee the exact initial and final position of the movement. This articulator is light, stable, and comes with an ergonomic design, and high precision.
- Progressive protrusion adjustable from 0mm to 6mm
- Adjustable progressive retrusion is from 0mm to 2mm
- This is mainly used for analysis, fabrication, and correction of splints
- Facebow transfer
The facebow transfer is mainly used to transfer the model of axial which is in the cranial relation to the articulator. The articulator has been proven clinically and scientifically, and it is known for being the fastest and most manageable facebow. It gets compatible with the Artex dental system.
Some of the benefits of this facebow articulator are as follows;
- Offers fast and safest 3D articulation support
- As it has elastic support, so it will make the reliable transfer of the arbitrary shaft position
- It will automatically correct the fixation of the skull axis in minutes
