Growth Appliances San Antonio, TX

Appliances for Facial Development

Three factors influence facial development: lip seal, nasal breathing, and proper tongue position. If these factors are not present during development and growth, they can cause imbalances in the craniofacial structure. The result is a long-face syndrome or midface deficiencies because the jaws are not developing to their true genetic potential.

The causes for these physical defects include:

• Adverse swallowing patterns
• Finger and thumb sucking
• Genetics (approximately 10% of patients)
• Improper tongue position
• Lips apart, tongue not resting on the palate, and other improper oral positions
• Soft tissue dysfunction causing mouth breathing (adenoids, allergies, enlarged tonsils)

Appliances for Tongue Habits

Orthodontists commonly use tongue habit appliances to help address oral habit patterns. Examples of these appliances include cribs, prongs, rakes, spikes, and other tongue habit reminders. Most appliances for tongue habits feature designs that block your tongue thrust.

Instead of dealing with the development of jaw problems, including a crossbite or misaligned teeth, one can use appliances for tongue habits. These appliances look similar to retainers used after their braces. A common tongue habit is thrusting, which typically resolves itself by age six. Similar to the palatal crib, tongue thrust appliances block the tongue from thrusting.

Appliances for Breaking Bad Personal Habits

Most children stop sucking their thumbs between ages two and four. Habit appliances, or habit-breaking appliances, are dental appliances that help break bad personal habits. Habit appliances allow children to put their finger or thumb into their mouth, but it is not as comfortable. Eventually, the appliance discourages the child from continuing this habit.

Other habits that may need appliances include:

• Biting or sucking on their lower lip
• Excessive pacifier use
• Teeth grinding
• Tongue thrusting

Comparing Upper, Lower, and Full Mouth Appliances

Orthodontists use many useful techniques to break oral habits, including appliances that correct upper, lower, and full mouth issues. An orthodontist will assess the patient's mouth to determine which appliance is appropriate.

• Upper Mouth Growth Appliances: These appliances work by gently creating additional space in your child’s mouth by expanding their upper jaw.
• Lower Mouth Growth Appliances: Bionators are removable appliances that promote lower jaw growth.
• Whole Mouth Growth Appliances: Anterior appliances work by gradually restructuring the jaw and surrounding areas to correct jaw structure issues, including overbites, TMJ disorder, underbites, and more.