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How Braces Work
- Braces are made of brackets affixed to the tooth to hold the archwire in place,
bonding material to hold the brackets to the tooth and an archwire threaded through
brackets to put pressure on teeth. Rubberbands exert added force in a specific direction.
- Orthodontists use brackets and wire to move teeth to their desired position for proper jaw
function and dental health.
- Treatment planning is essential for correct tooth movement and for the long-term stability
of your teeth.
- The added precision of tooth movement using the SureSmile system often reduces overall
treatment time.
Braces Move Teeth
Braces work by putting pressure against the teeth, gradually moving them into their
desired positions over time. Pressure causes the bone around the teeth to respond,
allowing for movement. When your teeth reach their destination, new bone growth supports
them in the new positions.
Orthodontists often use brackets and wire to move teeth. The tiny brackets are made of
metal or ceramic configured with slots. The orthodontist bonds the brackets to the teeth,
using the slots to hold the archwire in place along the outside of the teeth. The archwire
applies most of the pressure that moves teeth during treatment. "Rubber" bands, actually
made from surgical latex, create additional pressure.
The orthodontist may adjust or replace the archwire periodically to maintain the right amount
of pressure on the teeth. Traditionally, as a patient nears the end of treatment, stainless
steel wires are used to fine-tune individual tooth positions. The stainless steel wires are
manually bent to make the final tooth-by-tooth adjustments.
With the SureSmile system, the wires are customized from the start of treatment by a robot
through computer software. Adjustments normally made at the end of treatment are programmed
into the wire from the beginning, helping to reduce the amount of time in braces.
The majority of archwires, including SureSmile archwires, now are made from a heat-activated,
nickel-titanium alloy, originally developed by NASA to activate the solar panels of spacecraft
in orbit. At room temperature, the wires are very flexible, so the orthodontist can easily thread
them into the brackets attached to the teeth. When they warm to the temperature inside the mouth,
they lose their flexibility. The rigidity causes gradual and constant pressure to be applied to
the teeth.
While innovations in materials and design have made orthodontics more efficient, they haven't
significantly changed the speed at which teeth are moved. It's important to move the teeth gradually.
Moving teeth too fast can cause long-term damage, because it doesn't allow sufficient time for new
bone growth to support the teeth in their new positions.
The creators of the SureSmile process never lost sight of this critical issue. While SureSmile shortens
treatment time, it does not make teeth move faster. The greater efficiency is achieve by moving teeth
in a more precise, more direct path, thanks to computerized planning and robotic treatment programming.
Direct, precise movement, not speed, is what makes SureSmile's process faster.
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