A settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up like-
· NAIL BITING
· THUMB SUCKING
· LIP BITING
· TONGUE THRUSTING
· MOUTH BREATHING
Below is a list of few of the Habit breaking appliances given to the Patients:
Appliance Therapy
Habits could sometimes be discouraged by reminding and/or rewarding the child to stop the habit with the help of parents. However, despite the efforts to stop the habit, it is sometimes necessary to consider using habit appliances. It should be explained to the child and parents that habit appliance is not a punishment but rather a permanent reminder to stop the habit. In order for the treatment to be successful the child must be cooperative and want to stop the habit because any appliance can be easily distorted and removed by a non-complying child. There are also possible side effects of eating and speech difficulties and disturbed sleeping patterns, especially after delivery of the appliance.There are two types of appliance that are used: removable and fixed. Removable appliances are usually modified Hawley appliances with components to counteract the habit behaviour. The major problem with removable appliance is the lack of compliance by the child. As a result,sometimes we provide fixed appliance therapy as the choice of habit appliance as it does not require the child’s cooperation.
Mouth guard:
To protect your oral structure from sports injury it is given. It is a protective device for the mouth that covers the teeth and gums to prevent and reduce injury to the teeth,arches, lips and gums. A mouth guard is most often used to prevent injury in contact sports, as a treatment for bruxism or TMD, or as part of certain dental procedures, such as tooth bleaching. Depending on application, it may also be called a mouth protector, mouth piece, gum shield,gum guard, night guard, occlusal splint, bite splint, or bite plane.