Novel methodology to transfer digitized casts onto a virtual dental articulator

Abstract

This paper introduces a research project aiming at building a digital facebow with which maxillary casts (upper models or arcades) can be located on a virtual dental articulator. Its main goal is to improve the design process of dental prostheses by adding this virtual step to the already available methodology. The main practical implication of this digital facebow is the improvement on dental CAD/CAM system by transferring the position of the maxillary cast directly from the patient without having to use a physical facebow and a physical articulator. Thanks to this new method, dental prostheses can be produced following a complete chain of digital workflow.