Bite simulation
Bite simulation in the browser
Load the upper and lower scans and watch the lower jaw open, move forward and move to each side, with the teeth that touch named and the contacts shown as the jaw moves. Cympha Studio is a browser viewer for DICOM and dental mesh files, and a set of software tools for everything around dental CAD. Free, no install.
How it works
- 1Choose Simulate articulation and open the upper and lower jaw scans (STL or PLY), exported in the bite position.
- 2The occlusal plane is found and the upper jaw recognised automatically. If the jaws are the wrong way round, swap them.
- 3Pick a movement: opening, forward, to the left or to the right. Press Play to watch it.
- 4Read the chart of the lower incisors' path, and the notes: which teeth touch, from how many millimetres of movement, and whether that is an interference or group function.
- 5Show where the teeth meet: at the moment shown, or over the whole movement.
What it simulates
Four movements
Opening, forward, to the left and to the right, from the scanned bite.
The hinge
From average condyle positions (Bonwill, Balkwill), with a condylar guidance of 30° and a Bennett angle of 15°, or from a lateral X-ray you add, checked against the teeth. If opening collides, the hinge is moved until the jaw opens freely, and the panel says by how much.
Contacts
The contact map colours the lower teeth from overlap through contact to a gap, live as the jaw moves, or as the closest each point comes over the whole movement.
Aligner plans
Open an OrthoPlus .gvw plan to simulate the lateral excursion of its arches, with the gap on each side charted.
Questions about bite simulation
- What files do I need?
- The upper and lower jaw scans as STL or PLY, exported in the bite position, or an OrthoPlus .gvw plan.
- Does it show where the teeth touch?
- Yes. The notes name the teeth that touch and from how far into the movement, and the contact map shows where they meet, live or over the whole movement.
- Does it need a physical articulator's settings?
- No. The hinge comes from average condyle positions, or from a lateral X-ray if you add one. There is no facebow to transfer.
- What if the scanned bite overlaps?
- The Bite Optimizer moves the lower jaw out of the overlap and into contact first, then runs the same simulation from the corrected bite.
- Does Cympha Studio cost anything?
- No. Studio is free. Saving to a Cympha case, and a few of the editing tools, ask you to sign in with a Cympha account.
Simulate a bite in Cympha Studio
Open two jaw scans and choose Simulate articulation.