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Orthodontic appliance for young children
Orthodontic appliance for young children
is a small removable appliance, created by Dr Patrick Fellus at Robert Debré Hospital in Paris.The Orthodontic appliance for young children allows the patient’s lips to remain in a relaxed position when swallowing. Preventing bi-labial contact inhibits the possibility of negative pressure on the interior buccal cavity, and by consequence, leads to the inability to use a sucking-swallowing process when the child swallows saliva.
Indications
The appliance can be used as a stand-alone treatment or in conjunction with orthophonic reeducation. Orthodontic appliance for young children is also effective supporting transverse expansion and supporting openbite treatment to help prevent relapse and root resorption while dealing with form and function.
Positive Results
For over five years, the principle of disconnection between lips and tongue and thus the relaxation of the labial has shown to be effective at Robert Debré Hospital in Paris. Patients treated at this hospital who were closer to the physiological acquisition age (4–6 years old), when treated, typically show faster treatment results.
Why use the Orthodontic appliance for young children?
When your child is an infant the sucking-swallowing process is a physiological behavior. As soon as the first molars appear, most children automatically adapt their behavior to a chewing-swallowing pattern. Occasionally, the transition towards the correct chewing-swallowing process does not come automatically. The child fails to outgrow the infantile swallowing pattern and continues to swallow with the tongue going between the lips, but without using the teeth. The negative side effect of this type of swallowing is that dental problems can occur. Therefore, help is needed to develop the correct swallowing process.
The treatment, short, counts three steps:
Adaptation
During the initial adaptation period, your child will be unable to spontaneously swallow his saliva, thus inhaling to do so. You will be able to hear an aspiration “noise” when your child is wearing Orthodontic appliance for young children.
Swallowing
The correct swallowing process has been learned once your child no longer makes noise while wearing the appliance. It means that your child is now capable of guiding his saliva towards the back of the throat by using his tongue while keeping his teeth tightened.
Automatic
To ensure that the correct swallowing behavior becomes an automatic process and to guarantee tooth stability, the appliance must continue to be worn for a few minutes every day based on your prescription.
