These Are The Most Important Parts of Our Usual Appliances
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BANDS These are thin bands of metal, carefully fitted to the tooth and then cemented in place. They carry brackets, tubes, or rotating levers (in other words, they become a handle on your tooth). They give us a way to grasp and control each individual tooth.
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BRACKETS Recently, methods and materials have been perfected that allow braces to be cemented or bonded directly to the tooth surface. In some cases it is no longer necessary to cement a band around each tooth in order to hold the “handles” or brackets in place. Once treatment is finished the brackets are removed and the tooth surface polished free of the cementing materials.
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 Courtesy of the American Association of Orthodontists |
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ELASTICS These provide a force that helps teeth move, usually employing one arch or group of teeth against the other.
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ARCHWIRES These act as a guide or track along which the teeth are to be moved. They are changed throughout the treatment. Each change brings us closer to the ideal tooth position.
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