Patent ID: 6726477
Filing Date: 2004-04-27
Classification: A61C

Abstract:
An apparatus for precise registration and articulation of upper and lower dental stone replicas comprised of a triple tray having a rigid frame and a thin porous membrane mounted on said frame in an occlusal plane;a confining dam with upper and lower plaster stone casting recesses and an internal shelf conformable to a periphery of the triple tray frame, the confining dam having an upper surface parallel to the occlusal plane and lower surface parallel to the occlusal plane; said confining dam upper and lower surfaces having alignment posts; a transparent, rigid polymer, upper articulator block with a multitude of evenly spaced tapered through-holes, each of the through-holes temporarily occluded with a locally removable barrier to prevent egress of plaster slurry; a transparent, rigid polymer, lower articulator block with a multitude of evenly spaced tapered through-holes, each of the through-holes temporarily occluded with a locally removable barrier to prevent egress of plaster slurry; said upper and lower articulator blocks having alignment holes mating with said alignment posts on the upper and lower surfaces of said confining dam; a plurality of pins having a tapered base matching the tapered through-holes in said upper and lower articulator blocks, the pins having embedding heads capable of holding said pins within said stone replicas; an articulator having an upper jaw connected to an upper arm with a flexing element, the flexing element connecting to a hinge, and a lower jaw connected to a lower arm with a flexing element connecting to said hinge, said flexing elements and said hinge exercising said upper and lower articulator jaws to mimic the motions of the human jaw; said upper and lower articulator blocks having protruding ridges respectively sliding into upper and lower mating grooves in said upper and lower articulator jaws, in order to maintain plane parallel occlusal relationship between said upper and lower stone replicas replicated from said triple tray.