3M Unitek Modified Arrowhead Clasp for Retainers
A wire clasp used on primary, permanent or semi-erupted teeth to provide retention for a removable orthodontic appliance or retainer.
The Modified Arrowhead Clasp is a small wire component incorporated into removable orthodontic appliances or retainers to provide mechanical retention against the tooth it is fitted to. It is specifically suited for use on primary teeth, fully erupted permanent teeth, or teeth that are only semi-erupted, giving the appliance designer a retention option that works across the range of dental development stages commonly seen in interceptive and adolescent orthodontic patients.
Achieving reliable retention on a semi-erupted tooth can be more difficult than on a fully erupted one because there is less clinical crown available for a clasp to engage, so a clasp design suited to that situation is a useful option when planning a removable appliance for a younger or mixed dentition patient.
This clasp is typically incorporated into the appliance during laboratory fabrication rather than added chairside, and orthodontic labs and practices that build their own removable retainers or interceptive appliances keep components like this on hand as part of their standard clasp inventory alongside other common retention designs such as ball and Adams clasps.
