Using a facebow has always been the gold standard in capturing the occlusal and condylar relationship of the patient. If the provider is comfortable with using a facebow, an accurate record can be captured. Sometimes, however, a facebow is not available or the practitioner is not comfortable using one. Normally at this point, you would break out a rubber band, position it on the articulator midway between the upper and lower frame and hope this is close to the occlusal plane.
Another option is to use the Universal Occlusal Stand that allows us to achieve Bonwill’s Equilateral Triangle, based on a 110-degree triangle from the center of the condyles to the midline of the lower incisors. This will get us to a better-than-average setting, but not quite to the level of a facebow record.
The instrument can be used on most Denar and Hanau screw type articulators, Denar Mark 300 series and the Whip Mix articulators fitted with the QuickMount Magnetic System. It comes with a curved and flat table for mounting cases. The stand also has the ability to be set at 0 degrees or 10 degrees depending on the nature of each particular case.
The Universal Occlusal Stand also has the unique quality of receiving a Kois Index Tray on the flat table when set at the 0 degree setting. This allows the user to obtain the 100-degree triangle following the Kois philosophy of the average occlusal setting. The Kois registration can be used with the Denar, Hanau and Whip Mix family of articulators.
Therefore, if you are looking for a predictable, accurate option when a facebow record is not an option, the Denar Universal Occlusal Stand is the device for you.