RETAINERS & APPLIANCES

Straight talk about straight teeth.

So, why would I want an appliance in my mouth? We're not talking about a washer or stove. The hardware used to straighten your teeth is known as an "appliance." We orthodontists have fancy words for everything! Appliances are specially tailored to your mouth and guide your teeth, muscles, jaw joints and bones into proper position. What this really means is that appliances move teeth.

Dingus Orthodontics offers a variety of appliances (the dental kind!), depending on your dental needs. We can get you wired and lock-up those crooked and stray teeth.

The following are some of our fine appliances:
• Braces: placed on upper and lower teeth
• Headgear: worn to move the upper jaw back while the lower jaw grows forward
• Rapid palatal expander: helps widen the upper jaw
• Lip bumper: widens lower jaw
• Face mask: helps move the upper jaw forward
• Functional appliance: stimulates jaw growth

When your teeth have reached the proper position and alignment, your braces or other appliances are removed. To keep your smile looking great, we will fit you with a retainer. The retainer is usually worn at night and helps keep those great teeth from shifting.

To make a lasting impression, take good care of your retainer:

• Wear your retainer when recommended - if your teeth look good, you look good
• Wash it in warm water - hot water will melt it
• Keep it out of the sun - more meltdown
• Remove your retainer when eating: a chewed retainer can't do it's job
• Remove when drinking hot drinks - this may liquify your retainer (another meltdown)
• When you remove your retainer, store it in the case - this keeps it clean and easy to find
• Keep your retainer away from pets and little kids - they may chew and choke on it

Remember, our job is to lock-up and straighten those crooked and stray teeth. We'll give you the smile you've always wanted.

Rapid Palatal Expander (RPE) Used to expand the upper jaw	Wrap-around Retainer Used after treatment to hold teeth in place	Bite Plate (Splint) Used to open the bite and allow the mandible (upper jaw) to free-float
Hyrax Used as an extension appliance based on the upper arch	Tongue Crib Used to prevent thumb sucking and tongue thrusting	Quad Helix Used to widen the arches
Spring Clip Retainer Used to reset the upper or lower front teeth	Nance Holding Arch Used to prevent the upper molars from erupting and moving forward	Flat Plane Splint Used in the treatment of TMJ syndrome
Indiana Holding Arch Used to stop the molars from moving	Lower Bite Block Used to help correct a cross bite	Lower Lingual Holding Arch Used to stop the molars from moving