What term describes two models that fit together exactly according to the natural relationship of the arches, without bite registration?

What term describes two models that fit together exactly according to the natural relationship of the arches, without bite registration?

• A. Hand Articulated
• B. Fully Articulated
• C. Open Bite Assembly
• D. Digital Bite Registration

Answer: (A)

The field relies on a hands-on approach to reproduce how the upper and lower teeth relate when the jaw is closed, without any recorded bite. This is called hand articulation. In this method, the maxillary and mandibular casts are carefully aligned on an articulator by the technician using the natural anatomy—cusp tips, fossae, incisal edges—and how the teeth contact each other, rather than relying on an interocclusal record. The goal is to recreate the patient’s occlusion through skill and tactile guidance, not through a bite registration. This differs from fully articulated mounting, which typically uses a bite registration to fix the relationship on the articulator, and from digital bite registration, which captures the occlusion with digital tools. The term you’re looking for specifically describes manual, bite-registration-free alignment.

The field relies on a hands-on approach to reproduce how the upper and lower teeth relate when the jaw is closed, without any recorded bite. This is called hand articulation. In this method, the maxillary and mandibular casts are carefully aligned on an articulator by the technician using the natural anatomy—cusp tips, fossae, incisal edges—and how the teeth contact each other, rather than relying on an interocclusal record. The goal is to recreate the patient’s occlusion through skill and tactile guidance, not through a bite registration.

This differs from fully articulated mounting, which typically uses a bite registration to fix the relationship on the articulator, and from digital bite registration, which captures the occlusion with digital tools. The term you’re looking for specifically describes manual, bite-registration-free alignment.