Customized Hybrid Bluegrass Appliance: An Innovative Technique.

Oral habits in the form of thumb sucking and tongue thrusting are commonly learned patterns of behavior seen in preschool children and they are associated with anxiety, fear, hunger, oral pressure, and sleep. Chronic practice can cause dentoalveolar, perioral problems, and atypical root resorption (ARR) of anterior primary teeth. The ARR is provoked by the thumb sucking habit, and leads to early loss of anterior primary teeth. The early loss of anterior tooth may result in speech and masticatory problems, and psychological disturbance to the child. Hence, pediatric dentists play a crucial role in giving necessary information to parents and guardians. Starting from counseling to appliance therapy, various treatment modalities have been reported in the literature. One of them is bluegrass appliance; it is a nonpunitive habit reminder therapy. The present case report describes a customized hybrid bluegrass appliance designed to eliminate thumb sucking and tongue thrusting habit, and to perform as an esthetic functional space maintainer. Mohammad Z, Bagalkotkar A, Mishra A, Veerala G. Customized Hybrid Bluegrass Appliance: An Innovative Technique. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2018;11(2):141-145.