Patent Document ID: 8262388
Application ID: 12710721
Patent Status: 1

Claim One:
1. A device comprising; a dental articulator fabricated using a high accuracy injection molding process, the dental articulator including a surface with a fixed reference array; and a multi-part dental model including a number of components fabricated with a rapid fabrication facility from a digital model that includes a corresponding fixed reference array to the fixed reference array of the dental articulator, wherein the corresponding fixed reference array spans two or more of the number of components and wherein the rapid fabrication facility has a substantially lower accuracy than the high accuracy injection molding process, each one of the number of components including a positioning key structurally separate from the corresponding fixed reference array that mechanically encodes positional information for the component in the dental articulator and provides gross tactile feedback on a proper positioning and alignment in the dental articulator, wherein the corresponding fixed reference array includes a reference grid formed of a repeating geometry that enforces local accuracy of each one of the number of components against the fixed reference array in the dental articulator without uniquely positioning the dental model in the dental articulator.