Orthodontic technology

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Orthodontic technology is a specialty of dental technology that is concerned with the design and fabrication of dental appliances for the treatment of malocclusions, which may be a result of tooth irregularity, disproportionate jaw relationships, or both.

There are three main types of orthodontic appliances: active, passive and functional. All these types can be fixed or removable.

Contents

[edit] Active Appliances

An active appliance is a device used to apply forces to the teeth to change the relationship of the teeth.

[edit] Removable Active Appliances

  • Expansion and Labial Segment Alignment Appliance (ELSAA)

[edit] Fixed Active Appliances

[edit] Passive Appliances

Passive appliances include space maintainers and retainers

[edit] Removable Passive Appliances

  • Hawley Retainer
  • Begg Retainer
  • Pressure Formed "Essix" Retainer

[edit] Fixed Passive Appliances

  • Bonded "Twistflex" Retainer
  • Fixed Space Maintainer

[edit] Functional Appliances

Also known as dentofacial orthopaedic appliances, these appliances utilize the muscle action of the patient to produce orthodontic or orthopaedic forces. Various functional appliances have been described.

[edit] Removable Functional Appliances

  • Andresen Appliance
  • Bionator. Bionators initially look like a sort of combined upper and lower Hawley retainer, but do not fasten to the teeth and are not used for post-brace removal treatment. Bionators are held in the mouth within the space that the teeth surround when biting. They are used to expand the palate and create space for incoming teeth.
  • Biobloc. Biobloc is an appliance used to posture forward the lower jaw.
  • Clark Twin Block. This appliance incorporates the use of upper and lower bite blocks to position the mandible forward for skeletal Class II correction. The appliance was first developed by Scottish Orthodontist William Clark and Orthodontic Technician James Watt in 1977. The Twin Block has become the most popular functional appliance in use in the United Kingdom and is gaining popularity across Europe and the USA.
  • Bass Dynamax. This appliance is similar in principle to the Twin Block. It is based around a prefabricated modular spring, built into a maxillary (upper)occlusal splint. Two integral vertical springs make contact with a fixed lingual arch or removable lower appliance to posture the mandible (lower jaw) forward for skeletal Class II correction. This appliance was developed by London Orthodontist Neville Bass in the early twenty-first century.
  • Medium Opening Activator

[edit] Fixed Functional Appliances

  • Herbst Appliance
  • Fixed Twin Block Appliance
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