A comparative study of two arbitrary face-bow transfer systems for orthognathic surgery planning.

The relative reproducibility of two widely used arbitrary face-bow transfer systems, the Denar Slidematic and the Dentatus type AEB, was assessed for use in orthognathic surgery planning. A novel method was also developed to determine any variation in three-dimensional spatial position and orientation of the maxillary cast. This envelope of movement enabled realistic comparisons to be made for each face-bow system, operator, and skeletal type. The overall face-bow/articulator procedure showed poor reproducibility. However, the Denar Slidematic face-bow was better (P < 0.001) than the Dentatus type AEB standard face-bow, and the errors were higher in the anteroposterior and lateral directions than the vertical direction. There was no significant difference between operators for each system.