DENTAL SIMULATOR

1 . Dental simulation apparatus comprising:

a six degrees of freedom motion actuator having an upper mobile portion; an artificial mandible secured to the mobile portion of the motion actuator, the artificial mandible being arranged to receive a plurality of artificial teeth or other dental restoratives; and

an artificial maxilla rigidly located about the artificial mandible, the artificial maxilla also being arranged to receive a plurality of artificial teeth or other dental restoratives.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a compliance module is located between the artificial mandible and the mobile portion of the motion actuator, the compliance module including at least one compressible portion arranged such that compression of the compressible portion results in a decrease in the separation of the artificial mandible ant the mobile portion of the motion actuator.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the compressible portion of the compliance module is arranged to be compressed only when a force in excess of a first threshold value is applied.

4 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the compliance module comprises an upper plate connected to the artificial mandible and a lower plate connected to the mobile portion of the motion actuator, the upper and lower plates being spaced apart by at least one compressive spring mounted therebetween.

5 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein a force sensor is located between the artificial mandible and the mobile portion of the motion actuator, the force sensor being arranged to measure the compressive force applied to the artificial mandible.

6 . The apparatus off claim 5 , wherein the force sensor is further arranged to measure lateral forces applied to the artificial mandible.

7 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the motion actuator comprises a static portion and a plurality of linear actuators connected between the static and upper mobile portions.

8 . The apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the apparatus further comprises a control module arranged to control the position, speed and applied force of the linear actuators.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein each linear actuator includes a position encoder and is arranged to provide one or more encoder signals to the control module indicative of the position of the linear actuator, wherein the control module is arranged to process the encoder signals so as to provide closed loop control of the linear actuators.

10 . The apparatus of claim 9 , wherein the control module is further arranged to receive on or more signals indicative of the force applied by the actuators.

11 . The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of artificial teeth arranged to be located in either the artificial mandible or maxilla, each tooth having a root comprising a profiled upper root portion and a locating pin.

12 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the profile of each upper root portion is different from the remaining teeth and the artificial mandible and maxilla includes a plurality of root receiving cavities, each root receiving cavity having a profiled section having a profile that is complementary to only one of the upper root portions, such that each tooth may only be located in a single cavity.

13 . The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein each upper root portion has an upper planar surface for a dental crown to be secured to.

14 . The apparatus according to claim 12 , wherein the length of the upper root portions varies from tooth to tooth such that when each tooth is located in the corresponding cavity of the artificial mandible or maxilla, the upper surfaces of the upper root portions define a Curve of Spee.

15 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the upper root portion includes an outer layer of resilient material.

16 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the root includes a layer of resilient material interposed between the upper root portion and the locating pin.

17 . The apparatus of claim 11 , wherein the locating pin has a rounded end.