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Accuracy of virtual facebow compared to conventional facebow: a systematic review
Passent Ellakany1, Himanshi Aggarwal2, Alia Khazaal3
1Division of Prosthodontics, Department of Restorative Sciences, School of Dentistry, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, 35233, USA. pellakany@gmail.com.
Digital technologies offer new ways to transfer dental models for virtual articulation. While promising, more research is needed to confirm if virtual facebow techniques surpass conventional methods in accuracy.
Area of Science:
- Digital dentistry innovations in prosthetic and restorative applications.
- Advancements in virtual articulators for simulating maxillomandibular movements and occlusion analysis.
Background:
- Digital technologies are increasingly integrated into dentistry, especially for prosthetics and restoration.
- Virtual articulators aid in simulating complex jaw movements and analyzing occlusion during digital treatment planning.
- Limited evidence exists for standardizing clinical data transfer to virtual environments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review and compare the accuracy of various methods for transferring digital maxillary models to virtual articulators against conventional facebow techniques.
Main Methods:
- Systematic electronic search of PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, and Web of Science (2014-2025).
- Inclusion of in vitro studies, clinical trials, case reports, and techniques evaluating virtual articulation accuracy in fixed prosthodontics for dentate patients.
- Exclusion of studies not in English, involving orthognathic surgery, or focusing on edentulous patients.
Main Results:
- Ten studies were included for qualitative synthesis from 1,916 retrieved articles.
- Various digital transfer methods were reported, including digital photography, face scans, smartphone apps, and CBCT.
- Most studies indicated comparable accuracy among digital methods, though one highlighted photography's superior trueness and precision over facial scanning and conventional facebows.
Conclusions:
- Virtual facebow transfer is achievable through diverse digital techniques like photography and facial scanning.
- Virtual facebow systems show potential for repeatability and clinical accuracy, but heterogeneity prevents definitive superiority claims over conventional methods.
- Standardized, large-scale in vitro and clinical studies are necessary to establish definitive conclusions on the efficacy of virtual versus conventional techniques.
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