Articulators in FPD

ARTICULATORS IN FIXED DENTAL
PROSTHESIS
Dr. Mamata Dugaraju

III MDS
Table of contents
01 02 03
OCCLUSAL RADIUS OF MOVEMENT AND
INTRODUCTION
INTERFERENCES OCCLUSAL MORPHOLOGY
04 05 06
DIFFERENT TYPES OF CONCLUSION REFERENCES
ARTICULATORS USED
DEFINITION
ARTICULATOR: A mechanical instrument that represents the
temporomandibular joints and jaws, to which maxillary and mandibular
casts may be attached to simulate some or all mandibular movements.
CONDYLAR GUIDANCE: mandibular guidance generated by the condyle
and articular disc traversing the contour of the articular eminence
-GPT9
3
• A shift of orbiting condyle is seen even before the
working condyle begins to translate from the fossa.
This is called an immediate lateral translation
movement or immediate side shift.
• If the shift of orbiting condyles occurs in
conjunction with an eccentric movement, the
movement is known as a progressive lateral
translation movement or progressive side shift.
• The more immediate the side shift, the shorter the

4
posterior teeth
Okeson, Jeffrey P. Management of temporomandibular disorders and occlusion. Elsevier, 7th ed.. 2013.
CLASSIFICATION
● According to Gillies (1926), Boucher (1934), kingrey (1934)
1. Adjustable
2. Non Adjustable
● Becks (1962) : 1. Suspension instrument
2. Axis instrument
3. Hinge instrument
● Posslet’s (1968) : 1. Plain line
2. Mean value 5
3. Adjustable
● Thomas (1973) : 1. Arbitary
2. Positional
3. Functional
● Riliani (1980): 1. Fully adjustable
2. Semi adjustable
3. Non adjustable
● Weinberg (1963): 1. Arbitary
2. Positional
3. Semi adjustable
6
4. Non adjustable
● Sharry : 1. Simple
2. Hinge type
3. Fixed guide type
4. Adjustable
In International prosthodontic workshop on complete denture occlusion at the University of Michigan in
1972, the articulators classified based on
– instrument capability
– intent
– recording procedure
– record acceptance
• Class I : Hinge Type
• Class II : Arbitrary – subdivision A, B, C
• Class III : Average - subdivision A, B
7
• Class IV : Special – subdivision A, B
Introduction
● The articulator selected, and even more importantly, the skill and care with which it is
used have a direct bearing on the success of fixed or removable restorations.
● Where the dentist’s only concern is the relationship of the opposing teeth at the point
of maximum intercuspation, both the design and the use of an articulator would be
greatly simplified. Since the position of intercuspation is static, the articulator need act
only as a rigid hinge.
8
Hobo S, Shillingburg HT Jr, Whitsett LD. Articulator selection for restorative dentistry. J Prosthet Dent 1976;36:35–43.
● The mandible, however, does not act as a simple hinge. Rather, it is capable of
rotation about axes in three planes.
● The occlusal morphology of any restoration for the mouth must accommodate the
free passage of the opposing teeth without interfering with the movement of the
mandible.
9
● As the mandible moves up and down in the retruded position, the cusp
tip of a mandibular tooth moves along an arc in a sagittal plane, with
the center for that rotation located at the transverse horizontal axis
(THA), which passes through the condyles.
● If the location of the axis of rotation relative to the cusp tip differs
markedly from the patient to the articulator, the radius of the arc of
closure of the cusp tip may be different, producing an error that can
affect the placement of morphologic features such as cusps, ridges, and
grooves on the occlusal surface

10
OCCLUSAL INTERFERENCES
● Centric occlusal interference
● Working occlusal interference
● Non working occlusal interference – The destructive nature of the nonworking occlusal interference has
been widely reported.
● Protrusive occlusal interference
11
Errors in occlusal restorations
● Positive error - when the articulator undercompensates for the mandibular movement,
resulting in a positive feature existing on the occlusal surface where that feature should be
smaller or nonexistent; e.g., a cusp tip or ridge that is too high or one that is in the path of
an opposing ridge or tip during a mandibular excursion.
● Negative error - articulator overcompensates for a mandibular movement. This results in a
negative feature, such as a fossa or groove that is wider than ideal, or conversely in a
positive feature, such as a ridge or cusp that is somewhat narrower than ideal. Such
posterior teeth are allowed to disocclude more freely when the mandible moves. 12
RADIUS OF MOVEMENT AND OCCLUSAL
MORPHOLOGY
● When the jaws close, a cusp tip of a mandibular tooth travels along an arc in a
sagittal plane, with the center of rotation at the hinge axis.
13
● When an approximate (or arbitrary) hinge axis is used in
making the face-bow record, the radius of movement
produced on the articulator will reproduce the tooth axis
relationship with a fair degree of accuracy, and the resulting
error will be slight.
● Casts mounted on a small hinge articulator produce an error
that is likely to be significant. During closure in the centric
position, the tooth mounted on a small articulator has a much
shorter radius of movement. As a result, the tooth travels a
somewhat steeper arc of closure on the small instrument than 14
it would in the mouth.

INTERCONDYLAR DISTANCE AND OCCLUSAL
MORPHOLOGY
15
CONDYLAR INCLINATION AND OCCLUSAL
MORPHOLOGY
● A steep condylar inclination allows steeper inclines on the cusps of the teeth, while a less
steep inclination demands a flatter occlusal surface with shallower cuspal inclination.
16
MATCHING THE ARTICULATOR WITH
TREATMENT
17
Stephen F. Rosenstiel, Martin F. Land, Junhei Fujimoto. Contemporary fixed prosthodontics. Elsevier, 5th ed.. 2016.
SMALL NON ADJUSTABLE
ARTICULATORS
● Their use often leads to restorations with occlusal discrepancies
because these instruments do not have the capacity to reproduce the
full range of mandibular movement.
● Some discrepancies can be corrected intraorally, but this is often
time consuming and leads to increased inaccuracy.
● If discrepancies are left uncorrected, occlusal interferences and

18
associated neuromuscular disorders may result
● If the location of the axis of rotation in relation to the
cusp tip differs from the articulator to the patient, the
radius of the arc of movement of the cusp tip may be
different or the center of rotation may be displaced, and
an error will exist.
● This results in steeper travel than it is present intraorally
resulting in premature contacts between distal inclines of
maxillary and mesial inclines of mandibular teeth.
19
20
SEMI ADJUSTABLE ARTICULATORS
● Less descrepencies than non adjustable articulator
● Basically of two types: 1. Arcon
2. Non arcon
● Nonarcon instruments gained considerable popularity in complete denture prosthodontics
because the upper and lower members are rigidly attached, enabling easier control when
artificial teeth are positioned.
● Uses interocclusal records to set the articulator 21
22
Fully adjustable articulators
● Pantographic tracings are used to record border
movements
● when all four posterior quadrants are to be restored
simultaneously or when it is necessary to restore a
patient’s entire dentition, especially in the presence of
atypical mandibular movements.

23
Facebows
Facebows
● Transverse horizontal axis or terminal hinge axis :
An imaginary line around which the mandible may rotate within the sagittal plane – GPT 9
● Facebow:
An instrument used to record the spatial relationship of the maxillary arch to some anatomic reference
point or points and then transfer this relationship to an articulator; it orients the dental cast in the same
relationship to the opening axis of the articulator; customarily the anatomic references are the
mandibular transverse horizontal axis and one other selected anterior reference point – GPT 9
25
● Facebows are used to record the anteroposterior and mediolateral spatial position of the
maxillary occlusal surfaces in relation to this transverse opening and closing axis of the
patient’s mandible.
● Two types of facebows:
1. Kinematic facebow – used to locate accurate hinge axis. Eg: when decision is made to
increase the vertical dimension.
2. Arbitary facebow
26
Kinematic facebow
● The hinge axis of the mandible can be recorded within 1 mm by observing
the movement of kinematic facebow where styli positioned immediately
lateral to the temporomandibular joint, close to the skin.
● A clutch, which is essentially a segmented impression tray–like device, is
attached to the mandibular teeth with a suitable rigid material such as
polyvinyl siloxane putty or impression plaster
● 3 components – one transverse component, two adjustable side arms.

27
● The mandible is manipulated to produce a
terminal hinge movement, and the stylus
locations are adjusted with thumbscrews
(superiorly and inferiorly, anteriorly and
posteriorly) until they make a purely rotational
movement.
23
28
ARBITARY HINGE AXIS FACEBOW
● Arbitrary hinge axis facebows approximate the horizontal transverse axis and rely on
anatomic average values.
● Regardless of which arbitrary position is chosen, a minimum error of 5 mm from the axis
can be expected.
29
ANTERIOR REFERENCE POINT
● The use of an anterior reference point enables the clinician

to duplicate the recorded position on the articulator at future
appointments.
● After this point has been marked, it is used, along with the
two points of the hinge axis, to define the position of the
maxillary cast in space.
30
31
Shillingburg HT, et al: Fundamentals of Fixed Prosthodontics, 2nd ed. Quintessence Publishing, 1981.
JAW MANIPULATION FORCENTRIC RELATION
RECORD
● In Dawsons technique, the dental chair is reclined, and
the patient’s head is cradled by the dentist. With both
thumbs on the patient’s chin and the fingers resting
firmly on the inferior border of the patient’s mandible.
● the dentist exerts gentle downward pressure on the
thumbs and upward pressure on the fingers,
manipulating the condyle-disk assemblies into their
fully seated positions in the mandibular fossae. Next,
the mandible is carefully hinged along the arc of
terminal hinge closure.
32 Stephen F. Rosenstiel, Martin F. Land, Junhei Fujimoto. Contemporary fixed

prosthodontics. Elsevier, 5th ed.. 2016.
ANTERIOR
DEPROGRAMMING DEVICE
● If tooth contact can be prevented, the reflexes disappear, and
manipulation becomes easier. The teeth can be kept apart with
cotton rolls, a plastic leaf gaue or lucia jig.
● If the mandible cannot be manipulated satisfactorily after an
anterior programming device has been in place for 30 minutes, the
patient is likely to have marked neuromuscular dysfunction

23
33
Stephen F. Rosenstiel, Martin F. Land, Junhei Fujimoto. Contemporary fixed
CENTRIC RELATION RECORDING
TECHNIQUE
INTEROCCLUSAL RECORD MEDIUM:
● Highly accurate casts with elastomeric impressions – polyvinyl siloxane
● Reversible hydrocolloid – reinforced wax.
34
REINFORCED ALUWAX TECHNIQUE
36
ANTERIOR PROGRAMMING DEVICE
WITH ELASTOMERIC OR ZINC
OXIDE–EUGENOL RECORD
EVALUATION OF CENTRIC RECORD
● During the clinical examination, the position of tooth contacts in CR can be marked
with thin articulating film.
● Normally, the markings are on the mesial inclines of maxillary cusps and the distal
inclines of mandibular cusps.
● To transfer their exact location, the patient should close through thin occlusal
indicator wax.
● The articulated casts are closed, and the retruded tooth contacts marked with
articulating film.
● When the indicator wax is transferred to the casts, the perforations should
correspond exactly to these marks.
POSTERIOR ARTICULATOR CONTROLS
● Fully adjustable articulators – follow condylar path more precisely
● Semi adjustable articulator - replicates most clinically significant positions
(condylar path and side shift)
● Can be programmed with eccentric occlusal records or pantographs.
40
ARBITARY VALUES
● On the basis of clinical investigations, certain generally applicable average anatomic
values have evolved for condylar inclination, both immediate and progressive side shift.
● These values have been described in relation to the Frankfort horizontal plane and the
midsagittal plane. For instance, an average value of 1.0 mm has been reported for
immediate side shift.
41
Eccentric occlusal recordings
● The protrusive record can be used to adjust both condylar inclinations on the articulator,
● the lateral records are used to adjust the side shift on semiadjustable articulator
42
Eccentric occlusal recordings
● The patient’s mandible can be guided into an anterior end-to-end position and into left and right
lateral positions in which the canines are end to end when viewed from the front.
● For the lateral records, add additional wax to one posterior quadrant of a wax record to
compensate for the additional space on the patient’s nonworking side.
● Should be taken no more than 5mm of
eccentric movement.
43
Simplified pantographs
● Measures only condylar inclination and side shifts.
● Numerical values are diretly measured from the
recording and adjusted to semi adjustable articulators
● Some manufacturers offer inserts of standard “fossae” of
varying configuration, whose selection depends on the
measurements obtained with a simplified pantograph
44
Pantographic recordings
● A total of six plates are needed
to achieve a precise movement
record of the mandible.
● Left and right lateral border and
protrusive tracings are made on
each plate.
45
Electronic pantograph
● It consists of upper and lower bows that record and measure mandibular
movements and has been shown to provide valid and reliable measures
of condylar determinants.
46
CUSTOM GUIDE TABLE FABRICATION
47
VIRTUAL ARTICULATORS
● Virtual casts derived from an optical scan can be positioned within the framework of the
virtual articulator, and several of these have some degree of adjustability of condylar
controls
● Requires digital equivalent of facebow.
49
50
CONCLUSION
● There are many types of articulators that can be used for making fixed restorations. While
unquestionably the most accurate, the fully adjustable instrument is not feasible or
necessary for many forms of simple occlusal treatment.
● The effects of tooth-hinge axis radius, intercondylar distance, and condylar inclination on
occlusal morphology holds a great importance.
● Guidelines have been proposed for matching the type of articulator with the extent of
treatment anticipated. The use of small, nonadjustable hinge articulators is not
recommended.
51
REFERENCES
● Stephen F. Rosenstiel, Martin F. Land, Junhei Fujimoto. Contemporary fixed
● Shillingburg HT, et al: Fundamentals of Fixed Prosthodontics, 2nd ed. Quintessence
Publishing, 1981.
● Hobo S, Shillingburg HT Jr, Whitsett LD. Articulator selection for restorative dentistry. J
Prosthet Dent 1976;36:35–43.
.
● Hodge LC, Mahan PE. A study of mandibular movement from centric occlusion to
maximum intercuspation. J Prosthet Dent 1967;18:19–30
● Beyron H. Orienteringsproblem vid protetiska rekonstruktioner och bettstudier. Sven
Tandlak Tidskr 1942;35:1–55.
● Beck HO. A clinical evaluation of the arcon concept of articulation. J Prosthet Dent
1959;9:409–421.
● Lauritzen AG, Bodner GH. Variations in location of arbitrary and true hinge axis points. J
Prosthet Dent 1961;11:224–229

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ARTICULATORS IN FIXED DENTAL

Dr. Mamata Dugaraju

ARTICULATOR: A mechanical instrument that represents the

temporomandibular joints and jaws, to which maxillary and mandibular

casts may be attached to simulate some or all mandibular movements.

CONDYLAR GUIDANCE: mandibular guidance generated by the condyle

and articular disc traversing the contour of the articular eminence

working condyle begins to translate from the fossa.

This is called an immediate lateral translation

movement or immediate side shift.

• If the shift of orbiting condyles occurs in

conjunction with an eccentric movement, the

movement is known as a progressive lateral

translation movement or progressive side shift.

• The more immediate the side shift, the shorter the

● Becks (1962) : 1. Suspension instrument

● Posslet’s (1968) : 1. Plain line

● Riliani (1980): 1. Fully adjustable

● Weinberg (1963): 1. Arbitary

used have a direct bearing on the success of fixed or removable restorations.

only as a rigid hinge.

rotation about axes in three planes.

tip of a mandibular tooth moves along an arc in a sagittal plane, with

(THA), which passes through the condyles.

affect the placement of morphologic features such as cusps, ridges, and

grooves on the occlusal surface

● Centric occlusal interference

● Working occlusal interference

been widely reported.

● Protrusive occlusal interference

an opposing ridge or tip during a mandibular excursion.

● Negative error - articulator overcompensates for a mandibular movement. This results in a

sagittal plane, with the center of rotation at the hinge axis.

making the face-bow record, the radius of movement

produced on the articulator will reproduce the tooth axis

relationship with a fair degree of accuracy, and the resulting

error will be slight.

● Casts mounted on a small hinge articulator produce an error

that is likely to be significant. During closure in the centric

position, the tooth mounted on a small articulator has a much

shorter radius of movement. As a result, the tooth travels a

somewhat steeper arc of closure on the small instrument than 14

it would in the mouth.

● Their use often leads to restorations with occlusal discrepancies

because these instruments do not have the capacity to reproduce the

full range of mandibular movement.

● Some discrepancies can be corrected intraorally, but this is often

time consuming and leads to increased inaccuracy.

● If discrepancies are left uncorrected, occlusal interferences and

cusp tip differs from the articulator to the patient, the

radius of the arc of movement of the cusp tip may be

different or the center of rotation may be displaced, and

an error will exist.

● This results in steeper travel than it is present intraorally

resulting in premature contacts between distal inclines of

maxillary and mesial inclines of mandibular teeth.

● Basically of two types: 1. Arcon

● Nonarcon instruments gained considerable popularity in complete denture prosthodontics

artificial teeth are positioned.

● Uses interocclusal records to set the articulator 21

● Pantographic tracings are used to record border

● when all four posterior quadrants are to be restored

simultaneously or when it is necessary to restore a