Building on last month's articulator animations we have created an animation that shows how tooth modifications may appear to be fine when using a simple hinge articulator but will produce interferences in the patient's mouth (and on the full articulator).
Animation - Tooth Modification Issues with Hinge Articulators
The animation puts teeth in a full and hinge articulator side-by-side:
The progression is:
- Show a wide-angle view of an open/close motion drawing trace lines for a front and a back tooth. This view makes it clear that the full articulator is on the left and the hinge is on the right.
- Zoom in an repeat the motion so the details are clear.
- Add a modification to a rear tooth.
- Close the teeth, showing it might be OK on the hinge articulator but an interference is encountered using the full articulator.
- Add a modification to a front tooth.
- Close the teeth again so it can be seen that an interference would be observed on the full articulator but missed on the hinge articulator.
This animation may help patients who have detailed questions on why you are using a full articulator or if you need to help colleagues or students understand why a hinge articulator is inadequate for quality dentistry.