Have you ever wondered what your orthodontist’s recipe is for magically straightening or aligning your teeth and bite. Well, let me explain how orthodontic tooth movement works:
First apply light pressure to the tooth over a period of time(usually 18 months) and the body’s natural response to this pressure is tooth movement. This pressure is translated to the tooth through brackets, which are like little handles attached to each individual tooth.
The brackets have small slots that provide a place for the orthodontic wire to be placed. The wire is held into place by small round rubber elastics or extremely thin metal that wraps around the bracket “wings”.
Dr. Feinberg will select the perfect wire for you to achieve the best results. Over a period of time, these wires apply pressure on your teeth that directs the movement of your teeth into their ideal positions. Each bracket has a unique shape which is custom made for the particular tooth on which it is designed to fit. Your teeth are quite unique as well and each one has a different shape and size, so the brackets are customized to take this into account. The brackets are held onto the teeth by special orthodontic glue during a procedure call bonding. The glue is easily removed when the braces come off. Occasionally, during treatment a bracket may come off and Dr. Feinberg will easily re-bond it to the tooth.
In the early years of the specialty of orthodontics only stainless steel wires were available to move teeth. These wires are quite stiff and therefore apply more pressure on the teeth. Today, there are a number of new, innovative, high-tech wires consisting of materials designed for the space program. These special wires move teeth very gently and apply pressure slowly over a longer period of time.
Unlike traditional orthodontists, Dr. Feinberg has unique skills and expertise in wire design and uses special customized shape memory alloy wires. These wires are robotically bent and are called braceSureSmile wires. They truly benefit the health and welfare of our patients and have taken orthodontics to a whole new level of excellence. Over a shorter period of time your teeth will gently move into their targeted positions as mapped out on a computer screen and your ideal bite will be perfected.
In a typical orthodontic office there will be a series of adjustments requiring the wire to be removed and replaced or for bends to be placed in the wire. This can cause numerous episodes of patient discomfort. At Dr. Feinberg’s office we do not need to replace the wires very frequently and in fact our treatment methods reduce the number of adjustments, wire changes, office visits and discomfort. Our adjustment visits are typically spent checking to see how well your teeth are moving into their ideal position and to take pictures to analyze how your teeth are tracking. If we determine that a new wire is necessary we will order a special custom wire that will have just that perfect tweak to gently move your tooth into its best spot. Most braces adjustment visits are scheduled 6-8 weeks apart.