Home / Appliances / Habit and Holding / Basic Tongue Guard Tongue crib and tongue guard
The tongue crib, also called a tongue guard, is a fixed habit appliance on first molar bands that stops tongue thrusting and thumb sucking. Made to your Rx and shipped in 10 business days or faster.
Habit and Holding Basic Tongue Guard A .040 support archwire is soldered to bands on the upper first molars, and a vertical cage extends just behind the lower anteriors. The cage design works for most thumb patients, and the rake is for the determined ones. For tongue habits, we pair the vertical cage with a pearl.
Anchorage
Banded, first molars
Patient age
Mixed dentition
Correction
Tongue thrust and habits
Turnaround
10 business days or faster
When it’s the right call.
Use it when
Tongue thrust holding an anterior open bite open
Thumb or finger habit you need to stop
Open bite cases where the habit drives relapse
Retention after open bite correction
Consider another appliance when
Options you can prescribe.
Vertical crib
A vertical cage behind the lower anteriors.
Flat crib
A flat habit crib.
Rake crib
A rake design for a determined thumb habit.
Crib with Bluegrass
A habit crib combined with a Bluegrass pearl.
Still deciding which habit or holding appliance?
The job decides most of it: holding space, holding molar position or breaking a habit. After that, it's how much hardware the palate can take.
What every Basic Tongue Guard
case needs.
Send these with the case and it goes straight onto the bench. If anything’s missing, we call you before we start.
Upper and lower digital scans, or stone models if you work on stone
The completed Rx sheet, with your design choices marked
Your requested return date, so we schedule the case back from it
Resources for the Basic Tongue Guard
The Rx sheet, instructions for use and chairside guides, ready to download or share with your team.
Questions about the Basic Tongue Guard.
What is a tongue crib?
Ours is a .040 support archwire on the upper first molar bands, with a vertical cage behind the lower anteriors.
Tongue rake vs tongue crib: which should I prescribe?
The cage style works for most thumb patients. Prescribe the rake for the determined ones.
What is a tongue thrust appliance, and how does it work?
A tongue crib on first molar bands. The cage sits behind the lower anteriors, so the tongue can't push forward against the teeth.
Which tongue crib appliance do you use for a tongue habit?
The vertical cage with a pearl added, so the tongue has something to work on.
Is a tongue cage the same as a tongue crib?
Yes. The cage is the vertical crib behind the anteriors, so both names describe the same tongue thrusting appliance.
Send us your next case.
Appliances that fit the first time and arrive on time.
