The evolution of articulators – part I

Summary One of the objectives of prosthetic dentistry is to restore teeth in harmony with temporo-mandibular joints. Articulator is a device that allows an operator to fabricate a restoration that will be physiologically and psychologically successful. But how much do we really know about the origin of articulators? First articulator designs attempted to duplicate anatomic relationships and functional movements. More sophisticated articulators evolved as more new knowledge about anatomy, mandibular movements and mechanical principles were obtained. The aim of this article was to describe the origin, history and evolution of articulators through the years. For this article, an electronic search was performed across three databases (Science Direct, PubMed and Google Scholar) for relevant citations. Keywords such as articulators, history, early articulators were used alone and in combination for the search. The option of “related articles” was also utilized. Finally, search was performed on the review articles and the most relevant papers were selected.