Patent ID: 8348669

Claim:
A method of positioning a model of a patient's dentition comprising: receiving first digital data representative of a patient's dentition; receiving CT data of the patient's fossae and a CT bite plate having three or more non-linear radiographic markers, said dentition being oriented with respect to said fossae in an actual orientation, said CT bite plate being engaged with said dentition; creating a virtual model of said dentition, said fossae, and said radiographic markers from said first digital data and said CT data, said virtual model comprising a virtual representation of said dentition, a virtual representation of said fossae, and a virtual representation of said radiographic markers, wherein said virtual representation of said dentition is oriented with respect to said virtual representation of said fossae in a virtual orientation, said virtual orientation being substantially the same as said actual orientation; mounting an actual model of said dentition in a positioning device using said CT bite plate, said positioning device comprising a removable mounting plate, said mounting plate being attachable to an actual articulator in a known orientation; orienting said actual model of said dentition with respect to said mounting plate in said positioning device; attaching said actual model to said mounting plate; removing said actual model and said mounting plate from said positioning device; and positioning said actual model in said actual articulator using said mounting plate; wherein said virtual model comprises the locations of the anatomic fossae and an incisor in the upper teeth and upper boney structures of the patient; and wherein said locations are used to calculate the precise corresponding position of mechanical fossae and the vertical position of an incisal pointer in said actual articulator.