Ortho & Appliances
Retainers, night guards, sports guards, and splints, plus space maintainers, expanders, and Herbst appliances, each built to your prescription. Cases start from a scan or an impression, and banded work runs on your fitted bands or band sizes. Turnaround times for each appliance are published below.
Selection Guide
| Appliance | Best For | Not Ideal For |
|---|---|---|
| Essix / Clear Retainer |
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| Hawley Retainer |
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| Spring Retainer |
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| Permanent (Bonded) Retainer |
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| Hard Acrylic Night Guard |
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| Dual-Laminate Night Guard |
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| Soft Night Guard |
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Retainers
Retention options from thermoformed clear to bonded permanent, prescribed per patient compliance and arch.
Essix & Clear Retainers
Thermoformed clear retainers, the esthetic default for post-treatment retention.
- Clear thermoformed material
- Low profile, esthetic retention
Hawley Retainers
Wire-and-acrylic Hawley retainers for long-term retention, adjustable chairside, in custom acrylic colors.
- Adjustable wire-and-acrylic design
- Custom acrylic colors
- Night Guard / Hawley Combo available
Spring Retainers
Spring retainers for minor anterior relapse, providing correction and retention in one appliance.
- For minor anterior relapse
- Anterior refinement
- Wire-and-acrylic construction
Permanent (Bonded) Retainers
Twisted-wire lingual retainers, plain or with bonding pads, ready for direct bonding.
- Twisted wire, plain or with pads
- For lower or upper anteriors
Night Guards & Sports Guards
Occlusal protection matched to the patient: hard acrylic for confirmed grinders and clenchers, dual-laminate when a hard guard isn’t tolerated, soft for mild parafunction and first-time appliance wearers.
Night Guards: Hard, Soft & Dual-Laminate
Custom occlusal guards in all three constructions, with the occlusion refined on articulated models before delivery.
- Hard, soft, or dual-laminate
- Full occlusal coverage
- Refined on articulated models
3D-Printed Night Guards
Designed in software and printed in KeySplint Soft®, an FDA-cleared splint resin, from your scan or from a model we digitize in the lab. The design stays on file, so a replacement can be reprinted if it is needed.
- KeySplint Soft® (FDA 510(k)-cleared)
- From a scan or a physical impression
- Reprints from the stored file on request
Sports Guards (Playsafe®)
Custom-fitted, pressure-laminated Playsafe® guards in every protection level: 2-layer light and medium builds through the 3-layer heavy-pro with its hard intermediate layer. Prescribe a type, or name the sport on the slip and we build the level Playsafe’s specifications call for.
- 2- and 3-layer laminated constructions
- Name the sport; we match the Playsafe spec
- Colors and patterns available
Night Guard / Hawley Combo
Retention and occlusal protection in one appliance for post-ortho bruxers.
- Combined retention and occlusal coverage
- For post-treatment bruxers
Splints
Fabricated to your bite registration and instructions.
TMD / Gelb Splints
Mandibular repositioning splints for TMD management.
Anterior Deprogrammers
Permissive occlusal appliances that disclude the posterior teeth for deprogramming and muscle-driven TMD protocols.
Bleaching & Perio Trays
Bleaching Trays
Custom whitening trays, per arch, scalloped or straight-trimmed to your preference.
Perio Trays
Sealed medicament delivery trays designed for subgingival placement.
Pediatric Space Maintenance
Band-and-loop to Nance. Send fitted bands or band sizes, or let us fit custom bands from the model.
Space Maintainers
Unilateral and bilateral space maintainers, including crown-and-loop designs on stainless-steel crowns.
- Unilateral & bilateral
- Stainless-steel-crown designs
Nance, Lingual Arch & TPA
Nance appliances, lower lingual holding arches, and transpalatal arches. Soldered hooks and custom bands available.
- Nance & LLHA
- Transpalatal arches
- Custom bands on request
Expanders & Functional Appliances
Fixed expansion and functional appliances built to your activation protocol.
Haas & Hyrax (RPE) Expanders
Rapid palatal expanders in tooth-tissue-borne Haas and tooth-borne Hyrax designs, built to your expansion protocol.
- Haas & Hyrax designs
- TPA with hooks available
Herbst Appliances
Fixed functional Class II correction on custom-fitted bands.
- Fixed Class II correction
- Custom band fitting
Turnaround Times
| Service | Turnaround |
|---|---|
| Night Guards | 5 business days |
| Essix & Clear Retainers | 5 business days |
| Bleaching & Perio Trays | 5 business days |
| Sports Guards (Playsafe®) | 10 business days |
| Hawley, Spring & Permanent Retainers | 10 business days |
| Night Guard / Hawley Combo | 10 business days |
| Space Maintainers, Nance, Lingual Arch, TPA | 10 business days |
| Expanders (Haas, Hyrax) | 10 business days |
| Herbst Appliance | 12 business days |
| Splints (TMD/Gelb, Anterior Deprogrammers) | 7–10 business days |
- Business days are Monday–Friday, excluding holidays.
- Working times are in-lab only and exclude pickup, delivery, and shipping days.
- Multi-step removable cases: total time = number of steps × days per step.
- Rush service is available for an additional fee. Call to schedule rush cases.
Warranty Terms
2 years · crowns & bridges
6 months · removable prosthetics
6 months · ortho & appliances
90 days · repairs & relines
All restorations are warranted against defects in materials and workmanship when fabricated to your specifications, from the delivery date. Coverage is repair or replacement at our discretion; it does not extend to patient misuse, accident, anatomical changes, parafunctional habits, or work altered elsewhere.
Common Questions
Hard, soft, or dual-laminate night guard: which should I prescribe?
- Hard acrylic: for confirmed grinders and clenchers: it wears predictably and holds adjustments.
- Dual-laminate (hard outside, soft inside): when a patient won’t tolerate rigid acrylic: durable occlusal surface, comfortable fit.
- Soft: only for mild, occasional parafunction or first-time appliance wearers; soft material wears faster and isn’t recommended for confirmed clenchers or heavy bruxers.
Send the scan with a note about wear facets and we’ll recommend one.
Do you need a scan or an impression?
Either works, for any appliance we make. An intraoral scan and a physical impression or model enter the same workflow: a 3D-printed night guard, for example, is designed in software to spec either way, from your scan or from a model we digitize in the lab. The one exception is banded appliances, which need fitted bands or band sizes (see the banded-appliance question).
Should I prescribe an upper or lower night guard?
- Upper (maxillary): the standard prescription. The broader coverage retains better, distributes occlusal load evenly, and leaves the tongue space free.
- Lower (mandibular): for patients with a strong gag reflex, a large tongue, or prominent palatal tori, and often the better-tolerated arch when the appliance is also worn during the day.
Both protect the dentition when the guard is made with even contacts and smooth excursions, so the deciding factor is which one your patient will actually wear. Note the arch on the slip.
What should I send with an appliance case?
- Impression or scan: of the working arch (see “Do you need a scan or an impression?”).
- Opposing and bite: for night guards and splints, send the opposing arch and a bite registration.
- Bands or band sizes: for banded appliances (see the banded-appliance question).
- The details: expansion or activation protocol for expanders, acrylic color for Hawleys, team colors for sports guards.
If a record we need is missing, we call the office before the case starts.
Essix or Hawley for retention?
Essix wins on esthetics and cost; Hawley on longevity, adjustability, and tolerance of parafunction. For patients who grind, consider the Night Guard / Hawley Combo instead of retaining and protecting with two separate appliances.
How do banded appliances work, and do I send the bands?
Either way works: send fitted bands with the impression or scan, or send band sizes and we’ll fit custom bands from the model. Soldered hooks, pontics, and custom bands are all available; note them on the slip.
Can you replace a lost night guard or retainer without a new scan?
Often, yes, but the two appliances work differently:
- 3D-printed night guards: the design file stays on record, and a reprint on request runs at a reduced fee.
- Thermoformed retainers: these aren’t designed in software; they’re formed over a model. We can form a replacement as long as we still have the model (on digital cases, a model reprinted from the stored scan).
Replacements are recommended only when the dentition is unchanged. New crowns, extractions, or tooth movement (common when an appliance has gone unworn) alter the fit, and the appliance should be remade from a fresh scan or impression. Call with the case and we’ll confirm what’s on record.
Send us your next appliance case
Call to schedule a pickup, connect your scanner, or start a Digital Lab Slip. Turnaround times for each product are listed above.