STUDY ON THE PRECISION OF THE OCCLUSAL CONTACTS IN WORKING MODELS MOUNTED ON A NEW ANALOG DENTAL ARTICULATOR PROTOTYPE

Abstract

The manufacture of dentures, restoring the function of the masticatory apparatus, is carried out with the help of prosthetic field analogs—conventional or digital working models. Imitating the movements of the mandible, the articulator allows the modelling of the occlusal surfaces of the restorations with maximum precision by excluding to a minimum their additional articulation. The aim of the current study is to establish the precision of the occlusal contacts in working models mounted on a prototype of a new analog dental articulator. Materials and Methods: The ResearchGate, Embase, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Scopus digital databases were used. The studied articles were published in the period from 2015 to 2024, with 80% of them—in the last 5 years. Four experimental specimens were cast (standard models from hard plaster—class IV, 2 maxillae and 2 mandibles, using an impression of the prosthetic field of a patient with intact permanent dentition, without dental prosthetic constructions). They were subsequently scanned using a laboratory scanner. The created STL files were used for the 3D printing of the models. The scans of the printed maxillary and mandibular models were imported via the Exocad dental software into the Virtual Articulator module. Results: The prototype of the new analog dental articulator was an arcon type, class III, with median parameters (angle of condylar guidance—33o, Bennett angle—17o, intercondylar distance—100 mm). There was the option of transferring information from the facial arch. Dental plaster and magnets were not used to mount the models. From the measurements taken and the comparison of the results, high precision was established in the work of the new device. The correspondence of the occlusal contacts, registered with the help of bicolored articulating paper with 40-micron thickness, and their digital images in the Virtual Articulator module confirmed the precision of the device. Conclusion: The utility model of the new dental articulator reproduced with high precision the registered occlusal contacts in the main positions—central occlusion, laterotrusion to the left and to the right, and protrusion. The advantage of the new dental articulator is that dental plaster is not used to mount the models, which saves: technological time and material costs; there are no volume deviations as a result of the expansion and the subsequent shrinkage of the plaster; it is more convenient to use (we can work on the models outside the articulator and then return them, if needed, in the same correct position). In fixed dental prostheses, there is no danger of filling the slots, where locking pins are secured, with plaster.