In the context ofsurgery ordental surgery, agag is a device used to hold thepatient'smouth open when working in theoral cavity, or to force the mouth open when it cannot open naturally because of forwarddislocation of the jaw joint's intraarticular cartilage pad. Applications for medical gags includeoral surgery andairway management. Gag designs, like other medical instrument designs, are often named after their inventors. Common examples of medical gags include theJennings,Whitehead, andHallam gags.
Whitehead gag: invented in 1877 byWalter Whitehead (1840-1913), a surgeon inManchester,England,[1] consists of two hinged metal frames that wrap around the front of the patient's head and which have sections bent to fit between the front teeth. When spread apart, the frames separate the jaws, holding the mouth open. The desired degree of separation is set and maintained by aratchet mechanism on each side of the frame.
Jennings gag: they are very similar, but there is a ratchet on only one side.
