Title of Invention	DENTAL ARTICULATORS
Abstract	An assembly for plaster less mounting of a dental cast having an incisor mid line and its centre point and an occlusal plane, within a dental articulator having an incisor pin point and a thread adapted to provide a thread plane is disclosed.

Full Text

FORM-2 THE PATENT ACT, 1970 (39 of 1970) & THE PATENT RULES, 2003 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION (See section 10 and Rule 13) "DENTAL ARTICULATORS" AURANGABADKAR ANAY VILAS An Indian National of No. 2, Murali Sheela, Opp. HirmayJogging Track, Sambhaji Nagar, Behind HPT College Road, Nasik-422005, Maharashtra, India. THE FOLLOWING SPECIFICATION PARTICULARLY DESCRIBES THE INVENTION AND THE MANNER IN WHICH IT IS TO BE PERFORMED. FIELD OF THE INVENTION: This invention relates to dental articulators. In particular this invention relates to plaster free dental articulators. BACKGROUND: With particular reference to dentistry and intended only as a quick reference aid, following basic terms are defined below: Maxilla: The irregularly shaped upper jaw bone in a vertebrate that is fused to the cranium (part of the skull that encloses the brain). Mandible: The horse-shoe shaped bone forming the lower jaw. Condyle: A round bump on a bone where it forms a joint with another bone. Mandibular Condyle: The condyle of the ramus that articulates with the skull. Temporomandibular joint: The joint which connects the lower jaw to the temporal bone of the cranium. Occlusion: The spatial relationship of the teeth in the maxilla and mandible, when the jaws are closed. Mai occlusion: "Bad bite" or misalignment of the upper and lower teeth, when the jaws are closed. Mastication: The process of chewing food. 2 Denture: A dental appliance that artificially replaces missing teeth. Also called a prosthodontic appliance. Prosthesis: An artificial substitute for a missing body part, such as an arm, leg, eye or tooth; used for functional or cosmetic reasons or both. Sutura: An immovable joint (especially between the bones of the skull). Sagital: Located in a plane that is parallel to the central plane of the Sagital suture. Incisor: A tooth for cutting or gnawing; located in the front of the mouth in both jaws. Molars: Grinding tooth with a broad crown; consisting of premolars and molars. located in both jaws. Canine: One of the four pointed conical teeth (two in each jaw) located between the incisors and the premolars. Teeth are attached to the underlying bone of the jaw via the periodontal ligament. The white part of the tooth, which can be seen in the mouth, is called the enamel. Immediately below the enamel is a slightly softer, yellow tissue called dentin. Dentin is supported by the pulp, which lies in the center of the tooth. The teeth's composition is specialized to resist the harsh environment of the oral cavity and withstand the large forces imposed upon them by mastication. 3 Plaque is a soft white layer which forms on teeth, containing large amounts of bacteria of various types. Left unchecked for a few days plaque will harden, especially near the gums, forming tartar. Bacteria in the mouth live off the remains of foods, especially sugars. In the absence of oxygen they produce lactic acid, which dissolves the calcium and phosphorus in the enamel in a process known as demineralisation. Loss of enamel causes infection and leads to cavitation of the teeth and results in a disease called dental caries. Archaeological evidence shows that dental caries is an ancient disease. Skulls supposedly dating from a million years ago, through the Neolithic period, show signs of dental decay. In the initial stages of the disease the tooth can be saved by certain dental procedures like filling and root canal treatment. If left untreated, severe damage of the tooth takes place and then the tooth has to be extracted. Patients suffering from tooth decay or other damages often require replacement of either a part or the complete dentures. Impressions of maxillary and mandibular arches of the patient are taken and using it as a mould, a positive dental cast is made. Positive casts are replicas of patient's arches with or without teeth. These casts are the primary form on which the dental prosthesis is constructed. In constructing a dental prosthesis a dental technician encounters many challenging problems. Each of the tooth to be replaced is a three dimensional piece which has to match with another three dimensional tooth, existing or fitted, in the other jaw and at the same maintain interrelationship with 4 reference to adjacent teeth. Certain teeth like the molars and canine have matched mating surface that enmesh with each other to improve mastication. Other teeth like incisors are so positioned to bite and tear into food articles and have pincer like movement but fit snugly with reference to each other when the jaw is in a closed position. To complicate the matter further the temporomandibular joint permits movement in the vertical axis and also in the horizontal axis to a certain extent. All the above relative positioning and inter relation of teeth has to be perfect to obtain a proper fitment of the denture. Any mismatch results in discomfort and disfigurement of the facial muscles of the patient. To prepare a dental prosthesis technicians mount the cast in a device commonly referred to as an articulator. The articulator is a mechanical device used in dentistry to which casts of the maxillary and mandibular teeth are fixed and it reproduces the recorded positions of the mandible in relation to the maxilla. An articulator assists in the fabrication of removable prosthodontic appliances (dentures), fixed prosthodontic restorations (crowns, bridges, inlays and on lays) and orthodontic appliances. There are various types of articulators in use. A plane line articulator is the simplest type of articulator consisting of a simple hinge joint. No lateral or sliding movements are possible with a plane line articulator. An anatomical articulator attempts to reproduce normal mandibular movements during mastication. 5 A semi-adjustable articulator is an articulator that allows movement of the mandible only in a Sagital plane. An adjustable articulator can be adjusted to accommodate the many movements and positions of the mandible in relation to the maxilla as recorded in the mouth. Another classification of the articulator is based on which member of the articulator is provided with the condylar movement of the mandible. In an "arcon" type of articulator the condylar elements are on the mandibular member and the condylar paths are on the maxillary member of the articulator. In a "non arcon" type of articulator the condylar paths are on the mandibular member of the articulator and the condylar elements are placed on the maxillary member of the articulator. The term ARCON was coined by Bergstrom from AR-ticulator and CON-dyle. An arcon type of articulator is anatomically correct and makes the understanding of the mandibular movement easier as opposed to the non arcon articulator wherein the movements are the reverse of the actual movement of the temporomandibular joint. An articulator should meet the following requirements: The articulator must accurately maintain the correct horizontal and vertical relationships and reproduce the recorded positions of the mandible in relation to the maxilla. 6 The articulator should have an incisor guide pin to locate the centre of the incisor with a positive stop. The articulator should be able to open and close in a hinge-like fashion and maintaining the pre set positions of the casts. The articulator should allow protrusive and lateral movements of the mandible. The construction should be accurate, rigid and the moving parts should resist wear. There should be adequate space between the upper and lower members and the dental technician should have clear and unobstructed view of the casts. The conventional articulators consist of a upper and lower holding members and the casts are mounted on the articulator by means of plaster and the casts are adjusted manually by trial and error method. Conventional mounting procedure using plaster involves the following steps: 1. After preparing a positive dental cast of the maxillary and mandibular arches, indexing grooves are made on the upper and lower casts and jaw relation, which is recorded in the patient's mouth, is sealed to the cast with modeling wax. 2. A suitable separating medium is applied to the upper & lower members of articulator 3. A thread is attached to the articulator and taken around the cast to serve as the reference occlusion plane. 4. Maxillary and mandibular casts with occlusal rims are positioned as per the jaw relation record on the articulator and further adjusted according to thread relation. 7 5. Then the jaw relation record is adjusted as per the thread relation on the posterior portion on both sides and anterior portion with a vertical rod 6. After this the base of the cast and indexing grooves are painted with the separating medium 7. Dental plaster is placed on the base and indexing grooves of the upper cast and then the upper cast is attached to the upper member of the articulator and the dental plaster is allowed to set. 8. At this stage the articulator is placed upside down. 9. The base of the lower cast and indexing grooves are painted with the separating media. 10. Dental plaster is placed on the base and indexing grooves of the lower cast 11. Care is exercised to see that the contact is made between the vertical rod and incisal table and that the occlusal plane coincides with thread relation. The mounting procedure as above is cumbersome and the use of plaster may create procedural errors and the process is very time consuming. To solve this problem plaster-less mounting dental articulators have been envisaged. Some such articulators, suggested in the prior art are described below together with their advantages and limitations. Prior Art: US Patent 5720613 discloses a dental articulator for supporting and positioning upper and lower dental casts using a disposable mounting platform removably positioned on the brackets of hinged arms. The casts are 8 fixed to the mounting platform with adhesives. There are no provisions for fine adjustment of the casts with reference to each other. This articulator may be classified as a plane line articulator with a provision for vertical adjustment of the maxillary member. The condylar movement of the temporomandibular joint is not reproduced to verify occlusion. Another US Patent 5716209 discloses a plaster-less mounting dental articulator with trays mounted on both base and top having upstanding side-wall elements. According to this invention the hard molds are press fitted to the trays. The top tray is provided with adjustment in vertical and horizontal planes and the bottom tray is mounted on a sub plate with a dove-tail groove to permit horizontal plane adjustment. The adjustments provided on the top and bottom trays are with reference to planes which are normal to each other and no provision is available to tilt the planes with reference to each other. Also the condylar movement of the temporomandibular joint is not reproduced to verify occlusion. Another US Patent 4460338 discloses a plaster-less dental articulator for mounting casts which has locating pins to engage cast apertures and adjustable retaining screws. The top plate is provided with adjustment in vertical and horizontal planes and the bottom plate is mounted on a sub plate with a dove-tail groove to permit horizontal plane adjustment. The adjustments provided on the top and bottom plates are with reference to planes which are normal to each other and no provision is available to tilt the planes with reference to each other. 9 Yet another US patent 4358269 discloses a dental articulator for mounting and adjusting paired dental casts without the use of mounting plaster. The casts are held in place by means of contoured locating stops engaging suitable cavities formed on the side walls of the cast by cutters. The adjustments provided on the top and bottom plates are with reference to planes which are normal to each other and no provision is available to tilt the planes with reference to each other. Another US Patent 4517043 discloses a custom denture fabrication technique using an articulator with a square raised nipple, a ferromagnetic disc, magnets and a square keying device. The mounting arrangement provided does not reproduce the movement of the temporomandibular joint. It is clear that several attempts have been made in the prior art to obviate the use of plaster in the process of manufacturing dental prosthesis. The articulator as revealed in the above listed patents are far from satisfactory and there is still a need for an inexpensive dental articulator that can be used without plaster and provide all the convenience and flexibility in fabrication of dental prosthesis. OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION: One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a dental articulator, which obviates the need of plaster in the process of mounting the casts. Another object of the present invention is to provide a dental articulator which has provisions for quick alignment of the casts. 10 Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dental articulator which is of the arcon type or non-arcon type and which represents all the possible movements of the temporo-mandibular joint. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dental articulator which affords clear visibility and access for setting of the posterior and anterior dentures. Another object of the present invention is to provide a dental articulator which is provided with an incisor rod, incisor pin and incisor table to assist in positioning of casts accurately. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dental articulator which is provided with condylar guidance path to verify proper alignment and seating of denture. Yet another object of the present invention is to dental articulator wherein the wear and tear of the apparatus is reduced. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a dental articulator which is eco-friendly, by eliminating the use of plaster which is not biodegradable. Another object of the present invention is to provide dental articulator which is robust. 11 Another object of the present invention is to provide dental articulator which is economical. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION: According to the present invention there is provided an assembly for plaster less mounting of a dental cast having an incisor mid line and its centre point and an occlusal plane, within a dental articulator having an incisor pin point and a thread adapted to provide a thread plane, said assembly comprising : (i) a mandibular cast holding plate adapted to be adjustably securable to the planar portion of the operative lower member of a dental articulator; (ii) a maxillary cast holding plate adapted to be adjustably securable to the upper member of the dental articulator; (iii) means for clamping a mandibular cast on the mandibular cast holding plate; (iv) means for clamping a maxillary cast on the maxillary cast holding plate; (v) means for aligning the incisor pin point of the articulator with the centre point of the incisor mid line on the cast and rims in a operative configuration of the articulator; (vi) means for aligning the occlusal plane of the casts to said thread plane; (vii) means for operatively lowering the maxillary cast holding plate on a cast and rim set located within the articulator to securely hold the set within the articulator; and (viii) means for mounting said assembly within an articulator. 12 Typically, the plates are triangular. Typically, the plates are provided with parallely extending lugs for adjustably securing mounting means between the plates and the articulator and for mounting said assembly and perpendicularly extending lugs for clamping the casts on to the plates. Typically, the clamping means are screw elements. Typically, the means for aligning the incisor pin point of the articulator are screw elements fitted at the apex of the plates. Typically, the means for aligning the occlusal plane of the casts with said thread plane comprise screw elements associated with the lower plate at the base away from the apex. In accordance with another aspect of the invention there is provided a dental articulator consisting of an "L" shaped lower member having a operative planer portion and a operatively vertical portion; an upper member hinged to the vertical portion of the lower member via condylar guidance elements, adapted to be hinge-ably displaced between one closed operative position in which the upper and lower members define a cage and another open operative position for receiving dental cast and rim elements; an incisor table fitted to the lower member; an adjustable incisor rod fitted to the upper member said incisor rod having a pointed end in abutting relationship with the incisor table; 13 an incisor pin adjustably fitted in the approximate mid region of the incisor rod, tip of said pin extending inwardly in to said cage; an occlusion plane guidance element fitted across the vertical portion of the lower member; a string element securable on the vertical portion in relationship with one end of the occlusion plane guidance element and adapted to circumnavigate the cage at the head of the incisor pin and further adapted to be removably fixed at the opposite end of the occasion plane guidance element to define a thread plane, characterised in that, said articulator is provided with assembly for plaster less mounting of a dental cast in accordance with this invention. Typically, the planar portions of the lower and upper members are provided with holes to receive mounting means securing the mandibular cast holding plate to the planar portion of the operative lower member of a dental articulator; and a maxillary cast holding plate adapted to be adjustably securable to the upper member of the dental articulator respectively. Typically, the mounting assembly for a dental articulator in accordance with this invention is manufactured from any of the material selected from the group of materials consisting of stainless steel, aluminum alloys, other metallic alloys, polymers and synthetic rigid materials. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS: All the aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent with the description of the preferred non-limiting embodiment, when read together with the accompanying drawings in which: 14 Figure 1 is a side elevation of a typical maxillary and mandibular dental casts with occlusal rims; Figure 2 is a side elevation of a typical maxillary dental cast with occlusal rim, showing detail separation line between them; Figure 3 is a perspective view of full denture showing mid line and center point of mid line; Figure 4 is a perspective view of the articulator in accordance with this invention, showing the details of the articulator in its closed operative configuration; Figure 5 is a perspective view of the articulator of figure 4, showing the details of the articulator in its open operative configuration; Figure 6 is a side elevation of the articulator of Figure 4; Figure 7 is a side elevation of articulator of Figure 5; Figure 8 is the plan of the articulator of Figure 4 when viewed from below; Figure 9 is the plan of the articulator of Figure 4 when viewed from top; Figure 10 is the perspective view of the maxillary and mandibular cast holding plates of the articulator of figure 4; Figure 11 is the plan of the maxillary cast holding plate of fiure10; and Figure 12 is the perspective view of the mandibular cast holding plate in accordance with this invention. DETAILED DESCRITION OF THE DRAWINGS: Referring to the accompanying drawings, the articulator according to this invention is indicated generally by the reference numeral 100. Referring to Figure 1, 2 and 3 maxillary dental cast 1 is fitted with maxillary occlusal rim 2 and mandibular cast 3 is assembled with mandibular occlusal rim 4. Center line 5 and midpoint of center line 6 are indicated. 15 Figure 4 is a perspective view of the articulator 100 in accordance with this invention, showing the details of the articulator in its closed operative configuration. The articulator 100 has an L shaped lower member 50 in the form of a horizontal flat roughly triangular member 52 with three leg supports 54, 56 and 58 and an upper member 80 hingeably secured to the lower member 50. The leg supports 54 and 56 are provided at the base of the member 52 and the third leg support 58 at the apex to form a three point support in the assembled operative condition. The lower member also includes two vertical arms 66 and 68 with ends 70 rigidly fastened to the base of the member 52 to form the "L" shape of the lower member 50. The vertical arms 66 and 68 have collinear slots 76 and 78 on their distal ends adapted to receive the hinged upper member 80. The upper member 80 is a triangular shaped member with the base of the triangle adapted to receive hinge pins 86 and 88, which act as condylar guidance elements for securing the upper member 80 in the collinear slots 76 and 78 of the vertical arms of the lower member 50. The vertical arms have drilled collinear holes 74 in the mid region adapted to receive an occlusion plane guidance element 75. The distal ends 72 of the vertical arms are profiled forming a protrusion extending away from the apex of the member 52 in the operative configuration. Collinear holes 82 and 84 in apex region of the protrusion adapted to receive an interconnecting support element 85. Support element 85 acts as a stop to control hinged displacement of the upper member 80 operatively outwardly. The apex of the triangular upper member 80 is provided with a substantially cylindrical protrusion 90 with a central annular space adapted to receive an incisor rod 92, positioned such that in the assembled operative configuration, 16 the free end of the incisor rod 92 points towards the lower member, when articulator is in the closed position. The incisor rod 92 is removably assembled in the cylindrical protrusion 90 provided in the upper member. One end of the incisor rod 92 is flat and fits into the annular space of the cylindrical protrusion 90 and is removably assembled in the annular space with the help of a knurled screw 93. The other end of the incisor rod 92 is pointed and rests on an incisor guide table 95 affixed to at the apex of the bottom member 52. The incisor guide rod 92 is provided with a drilled hole substantially in the middle region of the rod to receive an incisor pin 97. The incisor pin slidingly fits in the drilled hole of the rod and the pin 97 has its pointed end facing operatively inwards. The incisor guide table 95 is a cylindrical disc shaped element rigidly assembled at the apex of the horizontal lower member 52. The pointed end of the incisor guide rod 92 abuts the incisor guide table 95 in the closed operative configuration of the articulator and establishes the degree of occlusion. The lower member 50, the upper member 80 and the incisor guide rod 92 constitute the articulator cage within which the cast mounting assembly in accordance with this invention is provided The mounting assembly in accordance with this invention mainly consists of two elements the mandibular cast holding plate 250 and the maxillary cast holding plate 200 and fixtures for fitting and leveling these plates 200 and 250 within the cage. The member 53 is provided with three drilled and tapped holes 60, 62 and 64 adapted to receive threaded elements to support a mandibular cast assembly plate 250. 17 The upper member is also provided with three drilled and tapped holes 94, 96 and 98 adapted to receive leveling elements and support a maxillary cast holding plate 200. Figure 5 is the open operative configuration of the articulator. Figures 6-9 are the other views of the articulator wherein all the components are clearly indicated. Referring to Figure 10, the mandibular cast holding plate 250 is a substantially flat member with four "U" shaped lugs 252, 254, 256 and 258 bent upwards perpendicular to the plate surface. The lugs are provided with drilled and tapped holes (not specifically numbered) adapted to receive clamping screws 260, 262, 264 and 266 and locate a dental cast. The mandibular cast holding plate is also provided with three other flat "U" shaped lugs 268,270 and 272. These lugs are also provided with drilled holes adapted to receive securing and leveling screws 274, 276 and 278 to secure the mandibular cast holding plate 250 on the "L" shaped lower member 50 and to permit the leveling and other adjustment of the plate within the cage. Referring to Figure 11 the maxillary cast holding plate 200 is a substantially flat member with four "U" shaped lugs 280, 282, 284 and 286 bent downwards perpendicular to the plate surface. The lugs are provided with drilled and tapped holes (not specifically numbered) adapted to receive clamping screws 281, 283, 285 and 287and locate a dental cast. The maxillary cast holding plate is also provided with three other flat "U" shaped lugs 288, 290 and 292. These lugs are also provided with drilled holes adapted to receive leveling screws 275, 277 and 279 to secure the maxillary 18 cast holding plate 200 on the triangular shaped hinged upper member 80 and to permit the leveling and other adjustment of the plate within the cage. The leveling elements provided on the lower member and the upper member allows fine adjustment of the mounted casts with reference to each other in horizontal and vertical axis. The three point support arrangement of the cast assembly plate permits tilting of the plane of a cast held thereupon with reference to both horizontal and vertical planes. The procedure of mounting the dental casts on the articulator according to the present invention is as given below. 1. Mandibular cast is placed on the cast holding plate mounted on the lower member of the articulator and adjusted as per jaw relationship record of the patient. 2. Using clamping screws the mandibular cast is fixed to the cast holding plate. 3. The occlusal rim is placed on the mandibular cast. 4. Articulator is closed by turning the hinged upper member towards the lower member. 5. A thread tied on one of the occlusion plane guidance member is taken around to the other reference member passing over the incisor guide pin. 19 6. The leveling screws provided on the lower member are adjusted to bring the occlusal rim of the mandibular cast to match with the plane indicated by the thread relation. 7. Maxillary cast is placed on the cast assembly plate mounted on the hinged maxillary support frame and adjusted as per jaw relation ship record of the patient. 8. Using clamping screws the maxillary cast is fixed to the cast holding plate. 9. The leveling screws provided on the upper member are adjusted to ensure that (a) contact is made between tip of the incisor guide rod and the incisor guide table and (b) the occlusal plane is coinciding with the plane indicted by the thread relation. 10. The lock nuts provided on the clamping screws of the articulator are tightened to ensure that the casts are firmly clamped on the articulator. 11 .Now the mounting is complete and the mounted casts are ready for teeth setting. 20 Although the invention has been described with a particular type of articulator of the arcon or the non-arcon type, it will be easily understandable to any one skilled in the art that the features of this invention and particularly the cast holding plates can be fitted or retrofitted in to any other known or yet to be designed articulator by suitably adapting the plates and its related fixtures to suit the articulator cage. While considerable emphasis has been placed herein on the particular features of "Plaster free dental articulator" and the improvisation with regards to it, it will be appreciated that various modifications can be made, and that many changes can be made in the preferred embodiment without departing from the principles of the invention. These and other modifications in the nature of the invention or the preferred embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the disclosure herein, whereby it is to be distinctly understood that the foregoing descriptive matter is to be interpreted merely as illustrative of the invention and not as a limitation. 21 I Claim [1] An assembly for plaster less mounting of a dental cast having an incisor mid line and its centre point and an occlusal plane, within a dental articulator having an incisor pin point and a thread adapted to provide a thread plane, said assembly comprising : (i) a mandibular cast holding plate adapted to be adjustably securable to the planar portion of the operative lower member of a dental articulator; (ii) a maxillary cast holding plate adapted to be adjustably securable to the upper member of the dental articulator; (iii) means for clamping a mandibular cast on the mandibular cast holding plate; (iv) means for clamping a maxillary cast on the maxillary cast holding plate; (v) means for aligning the incisor pin point of the articulator with the centre point of the incisor mid line on the cast and rims in a operative configuration of the articulator; (vi) means for aligning the occlusal plane of the casts to said thread plane; (vii) means for operatively lowering the maxillary cast holding plate on a cast and rim set located within the articulator to securely hold the set within the articulator; and 22 (viii) means for mounting said assembly within an articulator. [2] An assembly as claimed in claim I, in which the plates are triangular. [3] An assembly as claimed in claim 2, in which the plates are provided with parallely extending lugs for adjustably securing mounting means between the plates and the articulator and for mounting said assembly and perpendicularly extending lugs for clamping the casts on to the plates. [4] An assembly as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which clamping means are screw elements. [5] An assembly as claimed in claim 2, in which means for aligning the incisor pin point of the articulator are screw elements fitted at the apex of the plates. [6] An assembly as claimed in claim 2, in which means for aligning for aligning the occlusal plane of the casts with said thread plane comprise screw elements associated with the lower plate at the base away from the apex. [7] A dental articulator consisting of an "L" shaped lower member having a operative planer portion and a operatively vertical portion; a upper member hinged to the vertical portion of the lower member via condylar guidance elements, adapted to be hinge-ably displaced between one closed operative position in which the upper and lower members define a 23 cage and another open operative position for receiving dental cast and rim elements; an incisor table fitted to the lower member; an adjustable incisor rod fitted to the upper member said incisor rod having a pointed end in abutting relationship with the incisor table; an incisor pin adjustably fitted in the approximate mid region of the incisor rod, tip of said pin extending inwardly in to said cage; an occlusion plane guidance element fitted across the vertical portion of the lower member; a string element securable on the vertical portion in relationship with one end of the occlusion plane guidance element and adapted to circumnavigate the cage at the head of the incisor pin and further adapted to be removably fixed at the opposite end of the occasion plane guidance element to define a thread plane, characterised in that, said articulator is provided with assembly for plaster less mounting of a dental cast as claimed in claim 1. [8] A dental articulator as claimed in claim in claim 7, in which the planar portions of the lower and upper members are provided with holes to receive mounting means securing the mandibular cast holding plate to the planar portion of the operative lower member of a dental articulator; and a maxillary cast holding plate adapted to be adjustably securable to the upper member of the dental articulator respectively. 24 [9] The mounting means for a dental articulator as claimed in claim 1, wherein the element parts are manufactured from any of the material selected from the group of metals consisting of stainless steel, aluminum alloys, other metallic alloys, polymers and synthetic rigid materials. [10] A dental articulator in which the features of claims 1 to 9 are retrofitted. [11] A dental articulator claimed in claim 1 as described herein, with reference to the accompanying drawings. Dated this 9 th Day of July 2007 25 ABSTRACT An assembly for plaster less mounting of a dental cast having an incisor mid line and its centre point and an occlusal plane, within a dental articulator having an incisor pin point and a thread adapted to provide a thread plane is disclosed.

Documents:

1316-MUM-2007-ABSTRACT(25-3-2011).pdf

1316-mum-2007-abstract.doc

1316-mum-2007-abstract.pdf

1316-MUM-2007-CANCELLED PAGES(25-3-2011).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-CLAIMS(AMENDED)-(21-11-2012).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-CLAIMS(AMENDED)-(25-3-2011).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-CLAIMS(MARKED COPY)-(21-11-2012).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-CLAIMS(MARKED COPY)-(25-3-2011).pdf

1316-mum-2007-claims.doc

1316-mum-2007-claims.pdf

1316-MUM-2007-CORRESPONDENCE(21-9-2011).pdf

1316-mum-2007-correspondence(24-7-2007).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-CORRESPONDENCE(29-12-2009).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-CORRESPONDENCE(4-10-2012).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-CORRESPONDENCE(9-11-2011).pdf

1316-mum-2007-correspondence(ipo)-(26-3-2010).pdf

1316-mum-2007-correspondence-received.pdf

1316-mum-2007-description (complete).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-DRAWING(21-11-2012).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-DRAWING(25-3-2011).pdf

1316-mum-2007-drawings.pdf

1316-mum-2007-form 18(24-7-2007).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-FORM 2(TITLE PAGE)-(25-3-2011).pdf

1316-mum-2007-form 9(24-7-2007).pdf

1316-mum-2007-form-1.pdf

1316-mum-2007-form-2.doc

1316-mum-2007-form-2.pdf

1316-mum-2007-form-26.pdf

1316-mum-2007-form-3.pdf

1316-MUM-2007-OTHER DOCUMENT(21-11-2012).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-POWER OF ATTORNEY(21-11-2012).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-POWER OF ATTORNEY(4-10-2012).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-REPLY TO EXAMINATION REPORT(25-3-2011).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-REPLY TO HEARING(21-11-2012).pdf

1316-MUM-2007-SPECIFICATION(AMENDED)-(25-3-2011).pdf

abstract1.jpg