Appliance Therapies
Dental Appliances are commonly removable devices that sit inside the mouth and are used to help treat a variety of dental issues. The most common and well known removable dental appliances are dentures, which are used to replace missing teeth. These days, however there is an ever growing list of dental appliances to assist in a variety of dental treatments, such as to help prevent snoring or sport injuries. At Robertson Dental Innovations we provide a growing range of these appliances to assists our patients.
Appliance Therapies are used at Robertson Dental Innovations to assist in the treatment of various dental and related conditions. All the appliance therapies offered at Robertson Dental Innovations are removable enabling patients to remove the devices as needed.
At Robertson Dental Innovations we offer the current Appliance Therapies for the following conditions:
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Mouthguards
Used for protection of teeth in sport. Dental trauma can occur in a number of ways and playing sport without a proper mouthguard is one of the most common ways for this to occur, especially when playing contact sports. At Robertson Dental Innovations we recommend wearing a customised sports mouthguard when participating in sports. Store brought “boil-wear” mouthguards can sometimes cause more damage than wearing nothing at all, which is why it’s best to get a mouthguard design for your teeth made by your dental professional.
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Bruxing Splints/Night-guards
Used for the treatment of Bruxism (teeth grinding). Bruxism is the technical term for grinding teeth together and clenching the jaw. This usually occurs at night, and can cause damage and wear to the teeth. A splint or night-guard is a device similar to a sports mouthguard that can be placed on the upper or lower teeth and prevent the teeth from damaging each other. It is important to note that although the splints resemble mouthguards, a mouthguard cannot be used in place of a splint. To do so will cause further damage to the teeth and dental structure.
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Mandibular Advancement Splints (MAS)
Used to treat Sleep Apnoea and Snoring. Snoring can be a sign of the much more serious condition called Sleep Apnoea. Sleep Apnoea is when the airway becomes blocked during sleep, leading to a period of little-to-no oxygen supplied to the body. This is often accompanied by an audible “GASP”, when the airway is reopened. A person can have multiple Apnoea’s in a night and not even realise. One method of treating these conditions is through the use of an Mandibular Advancement Splint (MAS). A MAS is like two mouthguards (one for the top teeth, one for the bottom) which are worn at the same time. The winglets on the MAS hold the jaw forward, preventing the jaw from sliding backwards over the airway. For more information about Sleep Apnoea and snoring please click here.
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Retainers
Used in Orthodontics. All Orthodontic treatment consists of two stages, active and passive. The active stage is when the braces or the removable orthodontic device are used to move and position the teeth. The equally as important passive stage is when Orthodontic Retainers are used to prevent relapse and hold the newly positioned teeth in place. At Robertson Dental Innovations we can provide options for both fixed or removable retainers.
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Appliance Therapies Treatment Outlines
As each type of appliance therapy case treats different conditions with different devices, each case is unique. There are some basic similarities with these cases and in a broad sense a typical outline of appointments is provide below:-
- Consult:-At this first appointment the dentist or dental therapist/hygienist will diagnose the condition and discuss the various appliance therapies for the condition. This appointment may occur as part of a patient’s regular dental check-ups.
- Further Diagnosis (if required):- In some cases (like with an MAS), further diagnosis might be required. This may include an appointment with another dentist, dental related specialist or testing facility like a sleep lab.
- Impressions for Device:- After confirmation of the diagnosis, impressions of both the upper and lower teeth arches are taken and these are then sent on the lab for fabrication of the device. These impressions can occur as part of the consult with some devices.
- Fit of Device:- Once the laboratory has fabricated the device, it will be sent back to the dentist for fitting. At this appointment the device will be fitted in the mouth and the patient will be shown how to; use, maintain and take care of the device.
- Review of Device (if required):- In some cases a set of reviews is required as part of the treatment provided using the device. If this is the case the patient will be advised of any reviews at the first appointment.
- Please Note:- The above is a very basic outline, some treatment types will require more appointments, others (such as mouthguards) will require less.
Increasingly the Dental Appliances provided by Robertson Dental Innovations are fabricated on-site using our RDI Dental Lab.
Please contact our Reception teams on the numbers below if you have any questions about the information contained on this page or if you wish to make an appointment with us. New patients are always welcome, even if it is only to provide a second opinion.
For more information about the Appliance Therapy options provided at Robertson Dental Innovations, please see Our Services and Downloads pages, or contact our reception staff on (03) 5444 4924 (Dental Innovations on Sternberg) or (03) 5444 4924 (Dental Innovations on Condon).
We also have dental payment plan options from Smile Choice, ask the reception team for more details.
