orthodontic appliance

orthodontic appliance

[-don′tik]

Etymology: Gk, orthos + odous, tooth

any device used to modify tooth position. Kinds of appliances are extraoral anchorage, intraoral orthodontic appliance, and retainer.

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appliance (plī´ns),

n a device used to provide function or therapeutic effect. See also restoration.

appliance, Andresen removable orthodontic,

n.pr an appliance intended to function as a passive transmitter and sometimes stimulator of the forces of the perioral muscles. One of the activator types of orthodontic appliances that induces or directs oral forces to contribute to improved tooth position and jaw relationship.

appliance, Begg fixed orthodontic,

n.pr an appliance based on a modified ribbon-arch attachment.

appliance, Bimler removable orthodontic,

n.pr an activator-type appliance.

appliance, chin cup extraoral orthodontic,

n an extraoral traction appliance used to restrain the forward positioning of the mandible and/or the forward growth of the mandible.

appliance, Crozat removable orthodontic,

n.pr a wrought wire appliance originally introduced by George Crozat.

appliance, edgewise fixed orthodontic,

n an orthodontic appliance characterized by attachment brackets with a rectangular slot for engagement of a round or rectangular arch wire.

appliance, extraoral orthodontic,

n a device that uses a portion of the face, neck, or back of the head as a base from which to deliver traction force to the teeth or jaws.

appliance, fixed orthodontic,

n an appliance that is cemented to the teeth or attached by an adhesive material.

appliance, fracture,

n (biphase pin fixation, external pin fixation, Stader splint), any one of the various devices for extraoral reduction and fixation of fractures in which pins, clamps, or screws are placed in the fractured segments, the fractured parts are aligned, and then the pins, clamps, or screws are joined with metal bars or rigid plastic connectors (e.g., the Stader splint or Roger-Anderson pin-fixation appliance).

appliance, Frankel removable orthodontic,

n.pr an activator-type appliance.

appliance, Hawley retaining orthodontic,

n.pr See retainer.

appliance, hay rake fixed orthodontic,

n a device used to limit abnormal swallowing excursions of the tongue. In this manner, harmful effects of tongue thrusting are mitigated until the patient learns a new swallowing pattern.

appliance, intraoral orthodontic

n a device placed inside the oral cavity to correct or alleviate a malocclusion.

appliance, Kloehn cervical extraoral orthodontic

n.pr the classical cervical extraoral traction appliance. Uses a relatively light and flexible (0.045 inch; 1.15 mm) inner arch rigidly attached to a long outer bow.

appliance, labiolingual fixed orthodontic

n an appliance using the maxillary and mandibular first permanent molars as anchorage, with labial arches 0.036 to 0.040 inch (0.090 to 0.10 cm) in diameter introduced into horizontal buccal tubes attached to the anchor bands and lingual arches of the same diameter fitted into vertical or horizontal tubes fastened to the lingual side of the anchor bands.

appliance, obturator

n a dental prosthesis used to close an opening such as cleft palate.

appliance, orthodontic,

n a device used for influencing tooth position. Orthodontic appliances may be classified as fixed or removable, active or retaining, and intraoral or extraoral.

appliance, pin and tube fixed orthodontic,

n a labial arch with vertical posts that insert into tubes attached to bands on the teeth.

appliance, prosthetic

n an older term referring to a complete or partial denture for children when groups of teeth are lost or are congenitally missing. Used to maintain space or masticatory function or for aesthetic reasons.

appliance, removable orthodontic,

n an appliance designed so that it can be removed and replaced by the patient.

appliance, retaining orthodontic,

n an orthodontic device used to hold the teeth in place, following orthodontic tooth movement, until the occlusion is stabilized.

appliance, straight-wire fixed orthodontic,

n a variation of the edgewise appliance in which an effort is made to obviate the need for many arch-wire adjustments by reorientation of the arch-wire slots.

appliance, therapeutic,

n a vehicle used to transport and retain some agent for therapeutic purposes (e.g., a radium carrier).

appliance, twin-wire fixed orthodontic,

n an orthodontic appliance typically using a pair of 0.010-inch (0.25-mm) wires to form the midsection of the arch wire.

appliance, universal fixed orthodontic,

n an orthodontic appliance developed by S.R. Atkinson, combining some of the principles of edgewise and ribbon-arch appliances with very light arch wires.