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Participation in competitive sports at all levels, from youth to adult leagues has grown quite steadily over recent years.  With this growth, we have seen a commensurate increase in the number of injuries.  In fact, 10-20% of all sports related injuries are maxillofacial injuries according to the American Dental Association.  To protect your patient’s mouth we suggest everyone involved in playing competitive sports wear a mouthguard.

It is easy to assume mouthguards are only necessary if you are playing a contact sport. People understand if you are playing soccer, basketball, football, or ice hockey you need a mouthguard. But it is just as important to wear a mouthguard when you…

Some patients simply cannot tolerate having their mandible brought forward. For others, such as a patient who already is a skeletal class lll, they would only be made more prognathic. Luckily there are alternatives to these posture forwarding appliances.

The following appliances work by acting directly on the tongue to prevent it from dropping back into the airway:

THE FULL BREATH SOLUTION®The FBS has an adjustable extension that reaches back and down towards the posterior aspect of the tongue. It is designed in such a manner that when the tongue drops back into the airway during sleep it makes contact with this extension. This contact stimulates the tongue to come forward while eliminating…

If you’re providing sleep appliances to your patients, you should also be including a Good Morning Positioner as a support companion for each and every one.

A mandibular advancement sleep device acts to push the patient’s mandible forward and maintain an open airway during sleep. While this can lead to a good night’s sleep, (and a much quieter night for the patient’s partner), it may also affect the patient’s bite position.

The Good Morning Positioner helps patients to easily re-establish their correct bite pattern each morning. The patient inserts and wears it for a few minutes each morning to help re-align their upper and lower arches into a neutral position.

Dentists, we know what you do is extremely important. Every day you protect your patients’ teeth, eliminate severe TMJ pain, and give them a beautiful white smile. You may also save their lives!

Dentists are on the front line of screening patients for oral cancer. Though oral cancer doesn’t get as much attention as other forms of cancer, it is still a very real and very deadly disease. According to the Oral Cancer Foundation, in 2014 alone over 40,000 Americans were diagnosed with oral cancer and over 8,000 Americans succumbed to the disease.

Catching oral cancer early is paramount to a successful outcome. Your average person doesn’t know to look for new growths and discolored areas in the mouth or to make the connection that…

The Rick-A-Nator is truly the orthodontists’ best friend. This popularly used, simple fixed appliance consists of a maxillary anterior inclined plane placed on a lingual wire attached to molar bands. It can drastically improve deep overbites, improve a patient’s profile, and improve TMJ symptoms.

In some cases, you may see very young patients with deep overbites. Children aged four to six often present compliance issues. They don’t like…