Five factors involved in developing a balanced articulation for removable complete dentures: incisal guidance, condylar guidance, cusp height, plane of occlusion, and compensating curve. First described by Rudolph Hanau in 1926 and incorporated in the design of a semi‐adjustable articulator (Hanau H) that provided for horizontal condylar guidance to be set using an intraoral protrusive interocclusal record. Lateral condylar guidance (L) can then be calculated using the Hanau formula, L = H/8 + 12, where H is the recorded horizontal condylar guidance.