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Habit and Holding.

A wide range of habit and holding appliances, made to your Rx.

Hold the space, break the habit.

Habit and holding appliances are fixed appliances on molar bands, so there’s nothing for the patient to take out. Holding appliances keep space and molar position: the band and loop Space Maintainer, the Lower Lingual Arch, the Upper Nance Appliance and the Transpalatal Arch. The Basic Tongue Guard and the Bluegrass Appliance are the habit appliances, built to stop tongue thrusting and thumb sucking.

  • Vertical, flat, rake and Bluegrass habit crib designs
  • Palatal button or wire-only upper holding arches
  • Every design available 3D printed from your scan
Basic Tongue Guard

What do habit and holding appliances solve?

These appliances protect arch length and molar position through the transition, and they break the habits that keep an anterior open bite open. Holding arches stop the molars drifting mesially after early primary tooth loss or distalization, and habit cribs keep the tongue or thumb off the anterior teeth.

  • Early loss of a primary molar
  • Mesial molar drift during the transition
  • Tongue thrust holding an anterior open bite open
  • Thumb and finger habits

Which habit or holding appliance fits the case?

Anchorage
Banded, single abutment
Patient age
Primary and mixed dentition
Correction
Space maintenance
Compliance
None, fixed
Anchorage
Banded, first molars
Patient age
Mixed dentition
Correction
Thumb and finger habits
Compliance
None, fixed
Anchorage
Banded, first molars
Patient age
Mixed dentition
Correction
Tongue thrust and habits
Compliance
None, fixed
Anchorage
Banded, first molars
Patient age
Mixed and permanent dentition
Correction
Anchorage and molar rotation
Compliance
None, fixed
Anchorage
Banded, palatal button
Patient age
Mixed and permanent dentition
Correction
Space and anchorage maintenance
Compliance
None, fixed
Anchorage
Banded, first molars
Patient age
Mixed dentition
Correction
Arch length maintenance
Compliance
None, fixed
Haas, top view Distal Jet, top view MARPE 4 eyelet, front view

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Appliances that fit the first time and arrive on time.

FAQ

Questions about habit and holding appliances.

The standard cage-style crib works on most thumb patients. For a determined thumb habit, prescribe the rake design.

The vertical habit cage with a pearl in the vault of the palate, which is our Bluegrass Appliance. The cage stops the thrust, and the pearl retrains the tongue.

Both hold the upper molars from first molar bands. The Nance carries an acrylic button in front of the palatal vault so the palate takes the load, while the TPA is a .036 wire with a center loop, relieved from the tissue, that you can insert passive or adjust to widen or rotate the molars.

For a single lost primary molar, the band and loop Space Maintainer holds the space from one first molar band. When several are lost, use the Upper Nance Appliance on the upper or the Lower Lingual Arch on the lower, and the Transpalatal Arch when you also need to control upper molar rotation.

The Space Maintainer comes for either arch, and the Lower Lingual Arch design can also be made for the upper. The Upper Nance Appliance, Transpalatal Arch, Basic Tongue Guard and Bluegrass Appliance are upper appliances.

Upper and lower digital scans, or stone models if you work on stone, with the completed Rx sheet and your requested return date. For a space maintainer, add the band or crown size for the abutment tooth if you’ve already sized it.