Blue Sky Plan Manual

For cases when the user needs to 3D print models of the upper and lower jaw in an exact position, the Articulation pins function should be used. Articulation pins can be attached to two arbitrary STL models (two opposing jaws), and the models with the pins can be exported. Once the upper and lower jaws are printed (models, denture bases, etc.), the user can insert the male and female pins into each other to recreate the exact articulation. Articulation pins can be placed in the Model Manipulation Panel in the Surgical Guide Module.

The user needs to select the upper and lower jaw models and click the "Add" button. The number of pins can also be changed. Both of the models do not need to be closed before adding the articulation pins. Open models are closed during this process automatically. Both of the models should be aligned before adding pins.

Pins and manipulation widgets will show up. The dimensions of the connecting arms as well as of the pins can be changed by dragging the manipulation widgets which appear when the user hovers over that object. The arrows allow the pins to be moved to the sides and the scale widgets change the thickness of the pins.

It is not possible to drag the pin arms outside of the pins. The default dimensions can be set in Preferences, in the Surgical Guide tab, as Default Articulation Pin Arm Width and Default Articulation Pin Arm Height.

Once the position and size of all pins and arms are tuned, by clicking on the "Create Articulation Pins" the final jaw models with the articulation pins are created. The upper and lower jaw models are separated for export and prepared with male and female articulation pins so they can be connected in the original position.