What Are The Different Parts Of Dental Braces?
Dental braces help us to fix many types of dental issues such as crossbites, deep bites, incorrect jaw positioning, poor speech and much more.
There are a variety of different parts that make up dental braces such as brackets, wires, ligature elastics, bite elastics, expanders and much more which we will discuss.
Your dentist or orthodontist may use these different appliances to achieve a certain result so if you don’t know rather ask them what it’s used for.
What Are The Different Parts Of Dental Braces?
Brackets For The Teeth:
The brackets that are placed on the front side of the teeth during dental braces are used to level and align the teeth in the upper and lower dental arches.
These dental braces brackets have certain prescriptions on in which direction to move teeth which dentists and orthodontists learn and use different types of brackets to treat different types of cases depending on what the case needs.
Dentists and orthodontists glue these brackets onto the teeth in the correct positions in order to allow the teeth to become straight and give a perfect smile. These brackets are the main parts that can detach from the teeth if incorrect foods are eaten while dental braces are worn.
The Wires Used For Brackets
Braces wires are used to bring the teeth to a preformed shape therefore pushing and pulling teeth in the direction of the wire.
Dentists and Orthodontists have different types of dental wires at their disposal to move teeth such as stainless steel wire which can place a lot of force on teeth, Nickel Titanium wire which is the normal wire usually used and TMA which is an additional wire that can be used.
The different wires can be used at different times depending on your braces situation.
As time goes along in your braces journey, different wires will be placed along the way. In the start a light low force wire is often used to prevent too much pain on the teeth. Towards the end, dental elastics, more rectangular wire and thicker wires will be placed to complete any final touches that are needed.
Ligature Elastics:
These are the colours that go around the brackets in braces. These ligature elastics hold the wire tight against the dental bracket of your dental braces to allow the teeth to be moved.
Some systems allow the use of no dental elastics but this is because they are called self ligating and close the wire to the bracket by themselves.
Ligature elastics with dental braces come in all different types of colours. It’s best to know which colours you want before visiting your dentist or orthodontist.
Chain Elastics:
These are also known as power chains in braces or chain elastic. They look like long elastic with loops in-between. Chain elastics are often used to close gaps between teeth with the use of dental braces.
The more forces the chain elastics place on teeth the more the pain may be. Power chains or chain elastics come in a variety of colours as well.
Intermaxillary Elastics:
These are elastics that go from one jaw to the other jaw. These elastics come in a variety of sizes and have a variety of forces that can be used with dental braces.
Intermaxillary elastics can be used in variety of shapes between teeth and commonly sit as triangle shapes or box shapes to close bites on the side of the mouth.
These intermaxillary elastics are often a clear or yellowish colour and don’t get offered in the variety of colours like the other braces elastic options.
Coil Springs:
Coil springs are metal springs that are often used in the front or side teeth to open or close a space.
They work fantastically to open spaces where teeth are blocked out and coil springs are a great way for your dentist or orthodontist to make space faster than normal.
Molar Bands:
These are silver or metal round bands that are placed over the molar teeth at the back of the mouth to allow for movement the molar teeth or other teeth nearby.
Molar bands often have a bracket welded to the front or backside of the band which allows elastics to attach to them helping your dentist or orthodontist move the teeth and jaws.
Dental Arch Expanders:
Dental arch expanders can be used in difficult cases where the top or bottom dental arches are very narrow and it is necessary to make them wider.
This can also be done by using the wires in dental braces but these expanders are usually used first before braces or while the braces are on.
These dental arch expanders can be fixed in place on the teeth or can be a removable option. Dentists and orthodontists often prefer a fixed non-removable option to ensure that the dental appliance is not lost or broken.
Dental Wax:
Dental wax is given to you by your dentist or orthodontist to help prevent sore and painful lips and gums.
Dental wax is a wax that can be applied over the dental braces wires and brackets to prevent the bracket and wire rubbing on the gums causing pain.
It should be used in situations where the braces are hurting gums and lips.
In conclusion:
Those are the main components of dental braces which are used throughout the braces journey. Different tools may be used by your dentist or orthodontist since new techniques and methods are released all the time.