Excerpt from Dental Economics
"Reality's Answers" Department
January 2001 Issue
Articulator Problems
Q: We are experiencing a higher-than-acceptable amount of errors when transferring casts between articulators. We facebow mount our casts on Denars that are field-calibrated once a week. Interocclusal stops are verified with shimstock (12 micron). We send our mounted casts to our lab, which verifies the mounting on its field-calibrated Denar. The lab is to remount if two thicknesses of shimstock pull through the interocclusal stops, and it is currently remounting 80 percent of our cases. Is there another articulator system that more accurately transfers casts between calibrated articulators? If so, please provide a reference. All articulator companies claim accurate transferability of casts. Is there any literature comparing the accuracy of various two-articulator systems?
A: Apparently you're not the only one to discover that Denar articulators have a problem "talking" to one another. In researching your questions, REALITY editorial team member Dr. Nate Birnbaum found that a number of notable clinicians and laboratories have found problems with the transferability of casts between Denar articulators, as well as many other articulator systems. The choices of these individuals for improved results are the Artex (Jensen Industries) and the SAM (Great Lakes Orthodontics) articulator systems.
The consensus of the clinicians and technicians is that the Artex articulator from Jensen Industries affords the greatest accuracy in the transfer of casts between articulators. Casts in most other articulator systems are retained via a screw mechanism, whereas the Artex articulator system uses magnets.
Studies demonstrating the accuracy of cast transferability in the Artex articulator system, compared to other systems, have been carried out by Jimmy Eubanks, who performed a five-year study on the subject through Tufts University, and by Charlie Cajdric, an authority on the subject.
More information on the Artex articulator can be obtained by contacting Marcello Allegra of Jensen Industries at (800) 243-2000.
Reprinted with permission.
Rev. 0
 |
Michael Miller, DDS is the publisher of REALITY and REALITY NOW, the information source for esthetic dentistry. He is an international lecturer and a fellow of the American Academy of Cosmetic Dentistry, as well as a founding member. He maintains a private practice in Houston, Texas. For more information on REALITY or a complimentary issue of his monthly update, REALITY NOW, call (800) 544-4999 or visit www.realityesthetics.com. |