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GERGEN’SOrthodontic Lab · Since 1986
Epigenetics in Dentistry — how environment, airway, function and habits influence oral development and lifelong dental health

Airway · Epigenetics

Epigenetics in dentistry

Memory-wire and expansion appliances built to redevelop the arches, not just hold them. We are the exclusive fabricator for two of the leading programmes in this field, and we build the full range to your prescription.

Start a CaseThe programmes

  • Growth & development

    Arches that never reached full width, a lower jaw held back, a palate too narrow for the tongue. Epigenetic appliances set out to redevelop that structure rather than work around it.

  • Airway & function

    Give the tongue somewhere to go and breathing follows. Wider arches and better oral posture open the airway — which is why this work sits so naturally beside our sleep bench.

  • Preventive insight

    Catch it while the patient is still growing and you are guiding development instead of correcting it later. The same principles apply to adults; the timeline is just longer.

Environment · Airway · Function · Habits

Genes load the gun. These pull the trigger.

Epigenetics is the study of what switches development on and off without changing the genes themselves. In the mouth, that is four things a clinician can actually see — and, with the right appliance, actually change.

  • Environment

    Diet texture, allergens and the air a child breathes all shape how the face grows.

  • Airway

    A blocked nose becomes mouth breathing, and mouth breathing changes tongue posture and arch width.

  • Function

    How a patient chews, swallows and rests the tongue applies force to the arches every day.

  • Habits

    Thumb, pacifier, lip and tongue habits leave a signature on the arch that an appliance can address.

Exclusive fabrication

Two programmes, built here.

Separate approaches, separate training, separate followings. Each has its own page.

From our epigenetic prescription

The appliance range

Memory and expansion designs built to prescription. Where a design takes a block, say which side on the Rx.

Send the case.

Scan or impressions, a bite, and the doctor’s notes. If anything on the prescription is open to interpretation, a technician calls the practice before the case is started.

Start a CaseTalk to the Laboratory

Questions on an epigenetic case: 623-879-6066 · Toll-free 866-437-4361

What to send

  • Upper and lower scans or impressions
  • A bite registration at the position you want the appliance built to
  • Which side takes the block, where the design has one
  • The prescribing doctor's design notes and any modifications
  • A cone beam if you have one — the airway view is worth having