Re: self-ligating, o-rings, ties

[Guest guest]

As I understand these things, traditional brackets have a slot in

which the wire sits, but then something has to tie the archwire into

the brackets, to get the proper leverage. For this purpose, orthos

use either o-rings (the little rubber bands that fit around each

bracket), power chains (a string of little rubber circles, all

connected) or wire ties, and some of the wire ties can be coated with

white teflon to make them less visible. The o-rings and power chains

come in all sorts of colors.

The speed braces or Damons don't need the ties. They have, instead, a

little trap-door kind of thing built in to the brackets. So when you

get a wire change, the ortho or his techs open the door, put the wire

in, and snap the door back closed to hold the wire in place.

One friend said she had no pain at all with the Damons, and she

believed they worked more quickly. (She also got colored o-rings on

top of the Damons, though, which is possible, just because she liked

the effect.)

Cammie

> I have " speed " braces and am due to have my surgery in 11 days

now.

> I think it may be really difficult to prove that this type of

braces

> is any faster than traditional braces, so I wouldn't go with these

> for that reason only. I don't know about your case, but whatever

> type of braces I went with would still have required me to have

> surgery as speed braces do not do anything to move your jaw (unless

> there is some extra equipment that was not an option for me).

These

> braces are the only type that my ortho uses, that's why I went with

> them. " Speed " and " Damon " are brand names, they are essentially

the

> same thing, I believe. The benefits (other than the supposed

shorter

> lenght of treatment) are appointments less often and smaller

brackets

> to irritate your mouth. My appointments were 8 weeks apart for the

> first 10 months of my treatment, as opposed to some who go every 3-

5

> weeks with traditional braces. If you have issues taking time off

> work, that could be a big plus. As for the smaller brackets, I

have

> never had regular braces, so I don't know the difference, but I can

> tell you that my cheeks and inside of my mouth were sore for the

> first week or two and my teeth are always sore after adjustments.

>

> After saying that, I love the speed braces and wouldn't want the

> traditional ones personally, but I really have nothing to compare

> them to and I would not have switched ortho's just to get them.

The

> O-rings and ties are all a little confusing to me!

>

> If you have any other questions, let me know!

>

> Kim

[Guest guest]

As I understand these things, traditional brackets have a slot in

which the wire sits, but then something has to tie the archwire into

the brackets, to get the proper leverage. For this purpose, orthos

use either o-rings (the little rubber bands that fit around each

bracket), power chains (a string of little rubber circles, all

connected) or wire ties, and some of the wire ties can be coated with

white teflon to make them less visible. The o-rings and power chains

come in all sorts of colors.

The speed braces or Damons don't need the ties. They have, instead, a

little trap-door kind of thing built in to the brackets. So when you

get a wire change, the ortho or his techs open the door, put the wire

in, and snap the door back closed to hold the wire in place.

One friend said she had no pain at all with the Damons, and she

believed they worked more quickly. (She also got colored o-rings on

top of the Damons, though, which is possible, just because she liked

the effect.)

Cammie

> I have " speed " braces and am due to have my surgery in 11 days

now.

> I think it may be really difficult to prove that this type of

braces

> is any faster than traditional braces, so I wouldn't go with these

> for that reason only. I don't know about your case, but whatever

> type of braces I went with would still have required me to have

> surgery as speed braces do not do anything to move your jaw (unless

> there is some extra equipment that was not an option for me).

These

> braces are the only type that my ortho uses, that's why I went with

> them. " Speed " and " Damon " are brand names, they are essentially

the

> same thing, I believe. The benefits (other than the supposed

shorter

> lenght of treatment) are appointments less often and smaller

brackets

> to irritate your mouth. My appointments were 8 weeks apart for the

> first 10 months of my treatment, as opposed to some who go every 3-

5

> weeks with traditional braces. If you have issues taking time off

> work, that could be a big plus. As for the smaller brackets, I

have

> never had regular braces, so I don't know the difference, but I can

> tell you that my cheeks and inside of my mouth were sore for the

> first week or two and my teeth are always sore after adjustments.

>

> After saying that, I love the speed braces and wouldn't want the

> traditional ones personally, but I really have nothing to compare

> them to and I would not have switched ortho's just to get them.

The

> O-rings and ties are all a little confusing to me!

>

> If you have any other questions, let me know!

>

> Kim