Ortho-Tain is an amazing technique invented by Dr. Bergersen that can prevent your child from developing severe future dental problems.

Nite-Guide Technique:  is an appliance - based technique used to prevent malocclusions from developing in the 5 to 7 year old. The appliance is designed to mimic a perfect dentition thus allowing the developing permanent dentition to erupt properly. The Nite-Guide appliance guides the erupting adult teeth into a perfect Class I occlusion, expands the arches to accommodate the larger teeth, corrects and prevents crowding and spacing as well as preventing and correcting overbites and overjets all with only some day and night time wear.

Occlus-O-Guide Technique: is similar to the Nite - Guide technique and its recommended for children between the ages of 8 and 12 years of age. Since the adult teeth have already erupted in place at the age of 8 with heavy adult fibers securing the teeth, it takes more effort to straighten the teeth (usually 2 hours of exercise per day and nightly wear to maintain the progress each day). The treatment time is shorter than traditional braces. Through exercise, the biting force prevents the upper jaw from growing and the appliance redirects the lower jaw in its growth. The technique moves teeth very rapidly because of the increased blood circulation around the teeth caused by the intermittent exercise.

Ortho-T Technique: is recommended for children and adults ages 12 and above. The patient compliance requirement and corrective rate of speed closely resembles the Occlus - O - Guide technique. Because there is little or no growth left (particularly in adults), the indication for treatment is more limited than the other Orthotain techniques.

Habit Corrector: is an appliance worn passively to help children thumb sucking, tongue thrusts, open bites, and expands the arches.  The Pedo Habit corrector is for the 2-5 year old and the Youth habit corrector is for the 6 - 12 year - old.

Class III Appliance: is designed to correct misalignment of the jaw and also to provide skeletal changes. Used in patients 2 - 12 years of age and is worn 2 hours during a day and all night.

Advantages of Ortho-Tain appliances:

Orthotain corrects all elements of malocclusion such as overbite, overjet, spacing or crowding.

Prevents TMJ (temporomandibular joint) problems caused by a deep overbite.

Soft, comfortable, and removable appliance.

Guaranteed against breakage under normal use. If lost, it can be replaced.

Recommended Wear:

The patient is instructed to wear the appliance 2 - 3 hours each day. The patient will obtain faster, more ideal results wearing the appliance more actively than less. Also, to wear it at various times such as early in the morning, watching t.v. or after dinner is an advantage. To wear the appliance more daytime hours than recommended will not be harmful and will significantly speed the progress and often improve the result. Active wear involves biting into the appliance forcefully and holding the jaws under pressure for several minutes at a time (5 to 10 minutes). The patient then relaxes for one minute while maintaining the teeth in passive occlusion. The patient will experience some mild pain for three days at the most. After the third day, no pain will be felt, regardless of the amount of active wear. If patient gets any pressure spots, please notify us so we can adjust the appliance.

Insertion of the appliance:

Once the appliance is placed in the mouth, make sure the upper four front teeth and the canines fit into their spaces in the appropriate sockets. Also, make sure the lower front teeth appropriately fits into the lower socket spaces.   The patient should not bite on the appliance in any other way than directed (such as gnawing at the ends). The patient should not move the appliance forward out of the mouth to chew at the lingual posterior margins. If the child has a dog, he/she should be instructed to keep the appliance in the box in a drawer when not being worn. If appliance does not stay in the mouth during the night, keep the dog out of the room.  If the child cannot keep the appliance in all night when sleeping there are several helpful methods that can be used. One of the most effective is to have the child wear it 2 hours each day for 3 or 4 days and at night. Provide positive reinforcement and a prize. Most will soon get use to the feel of it in their mouth. Another method, if the child cannot go to sleep with the appliance in place or resists putting it in the mouth before going to sleep, is to have the parent put it in the mouth after the child is already asleep and  it will usually stay in all night. Make sure the child is breathing through his/her nose once its place.

Cleaning the appliance:

The appliance should be cleaned with luke warm water and brushed with the toothpaste after each use.  The appliance should not be boiled. The appliance has a cooperation detector which allows the doctor to detect if the patient is wearing the appliance satisfactorily. The appliance becomes slightly cloudy when worn properly each night and becomes more white the more hours it is worn. If it is not worn for two consecutive nights it will become transparent again.