Abstract: An articulator for adjusting and fabricating a dental restoration has a proximal counter, occlusal counter and laboratory die. The method of using the articulator provides an accurate, extraoral adjustment of the dental restoration.

Abstract: A dental impression tray having varying rigidity. A joint in the tray's posterior is reinforced prior to intraoral placement by a removable wire running through hooks in the tray's rim. Removing the wire after the patient bites imparts flexibility to the joint, and then the tray's frame becomes rigid intraorally when an uncured immobilizing agent previously applied to the joint is cured. The tray's initial rigidity facilitates handling; its subsequent flexibility reduces the frame's plastic memory; and its subsequent rigidity durably locks the tray into a pressure-relieved position.