Space maintainers are fixed appliances used to maintain the patients arch length and spacing during the transition of mixed to permanent dentition and to prevent adjacent teeth from drifting into the space of missing teeth.
These appliances are used for patients with missing primary or permanent teeth to prevent drifting of adjacent teeth until all permanent teeth have erupted. Some designs can be used to regain space if needed.
Space regainers have a spring mechanism that is used to regain space when a tooth has already begun to drift into the area left by the loss of an adjacent tooth.
A bite plate is an appliance worn in the mouth to separate the jaws so that some of the teeth will gradually shift upward or downward. They can be worn to help correct deep bites and to help make the lower arch level so that the upper front teeth don’t overlap so deeply over the lower teeth.
Habit appliances help eliminate the habit of tongue thrusting or thumb sucking. Habit cribs can be added to almost any appliance or as a separate fixed appliance (recommended to enforce patient compliance).