Health Encyclopedia

Functional Appliance

Functional Appliance

Functional appliance to help move teeth or align jaws

Functional appliances use the muscle action from speaking, eating, and swallowing to create forces that move teeth and align the jaws. Some functional appliances are removable. Others are bonded to the teeth. A functional appliance may fit between the upper and lower teeth. Or it may span across the mouth between the molars, pressing the bone outward.

By Healthwise Staff
Primary Medical Reviewer Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine
Specialist Medical Reviewer William F. Hohlt, DDS - Orthodontics
Last Revised January 2, 2013

Last Revised: January 2, 2013

Author: Healthwise Staff

Medical Review: Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine & William F. Hohlt, DDS - Orthodontics

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