A Full-Digital Technique to Mount a Maxillary Arch Scan on a Virtual Articulator

Area of Science:

• Dentistry
• Digital Odontology
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery

Background:

• Accurate mounting of dental casts on an articulator is crucial for complex dental case treatment planning and occlusal rehabilitation.
• Traditional methods can be time-consuming and may lack flexibility in orientation.
• Digital workflows are increasingly adopted in dentistry for efficiency and precision.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a full digital approach for transferring maxillary dentition to a virtual articulator.
• To highlight the benefits of this digital technique in terms of time and flexibility.
• To identify suitable clinical applications for this novel method.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing intraoral scans to capture the position of the maxillary dentition.
• Integrating cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) files for comprehensive 3D data.
• Transferring scanned data to a virtual articulator for digital mounting.

Main Results:

• The presented technique allows for accurate transfer of dental casts to a virtual articulator.
• This digital approach reduces chairside time compared to conventional methods.
• The technique offers enhanced flexibility in choosing the orientation plane for treatment planning.

Conclusions:

• A full digital workflow using intraoral scans and CBCT is a viable method for virtual articulator mounting.
• This technique is beneficial for complex interdisciplinary treatments, orthognathic surgeries, and cases with existing CT/CBCT data.
• The digital approach enhances efficiency and planning flexibility in advanced dental rehabilitation.