Dental articulator

A dental articulator comprising:

• a first arm hingedly joined to a second arm about a pivot axis, each said arm adapted for mounting a dental model thereto, wherein at least one of said first arm or second arm comprises:
• (a) a bracket member having a proximal portion and a distal portion adapted for mounting the respective dental model thereto,
• (b) a base member of the arm and having a distal portion for coupling to the bracket member and a proximal portion adapted for hingedly joining said first arm and said second arm, respectively, about said pivot axis, and
• (c) a mount having a first mount part coupled to the distal portion of the respective base member and a second mount part coupled to the proximal portion of the respective bracket member, wherein the mount is configured for selectively providing, at least during operation of the articulator, for relative movement between the respective bracket member and the respective base member with respect to a datum alignment position, and the mount further comprising a magnetic coupling arrangement configured for coupling the respective bracket member to the respective base member to allow for said relative movement in response to a suitable external force or couple while urging said first mount part into abutting contact with said second mount part to assume said datum alignment position in the absence of the external force or couple.

A dental articulator, comprising:

• a pair of first and second arms substantially identical or symmetrical in structure, each arm comprising:
• a bracket member defining a longitudinal arm axis and having a proximal portion and a distal dental portion structured for mounting a dental model;
• a base member defining a vertical arm axis and comprising a distal bracket member coupling portion and a proximal hinge end;
• and
• a bracket/base mount assembly comprising a bracket mount part coupled to the bracket member proximal portion, a base mount part coupled to the base member distal portion, and one or more magnetic elements magnetically affixing the proximal portion of the bracket member to the distal portion of the base member so as to allow the bracket member to rotate with respect to the base member about a rotational axis;
• and
• a hinge joining first arm to the second arm about the hinge ends of the respective base members so as to couple the first and second arms about a pivot axis.