Damon system?

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#1 Post by **katarinarano** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 5:22 pm

Hallo,

can anyone tell me something about damonsystem braces. If they work well on adults, and if they really can expand the lower and upper jaw without any longterm sideeffects? Do teeth reamin stable?

Katy

#2 Post by **LadyJ** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 7:02 pm

That said - and certainly the goal of any orthodontic treatment is equivalent, stable results no matter the kind of brackets used - I will pitch in and say my ortho is very keen on Damons, especially for adults. It's not so much the end result (same) as the getting there (potentially easier).

I have a narrow lower arch with crowding, and was told I'd need to have extractions to make room, and I'd be in braces at least 24 months. Unless I used the Damon system, which should (no guarantees, but my ortho is optimistic) expand my lower arch and also take less time (18-20 months).

There's a really good article on Damons posted on the main Archwired site here:

http://www.archwired.com/Damon_Bracket_System.htm

And I'll be getting my Damon brackets tomorrow morning (gulp!) so if you want to see details you can click on the WWW button at the bottom of my post and follow along!

#3 Post by **bracedintx** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 8:54 pm

As someone in self-ligating brackets I was given the same hype. My estimate was 18-22 months. I am in my 28th month now and it is likely to be close to 36 months before I'm done. No extractions, no surgery...just takes time.

#4 Post by **CactusZAF** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 9:45 pm

Although I am also in Damon brackets, I believe it's much more important to let your ortho choose whichever system s/he is most comfortable using. Irrespective of weather the claims made by the manufacturer are accurate or not you are paying your hard earned cash for a satisfactory end result which your ortho is trying to provide, so make his/her job easier by letting him/her choose the tools s/he wants to use to accomplish the end result (remember if you aren't happy with the end results you're going to blame your ortho not yourself, so go with what s/he recommends not what anyone else says).

#5 Post by **ohmyjaw** » Wed Jan 16, 2008 11:40 pm

I have to agree with Meryaten - I read the Damon page http://www.archwired.com/Damon_Bracket_System.htm and I think it's a bunch of misinformation.

I will accept that perhaps Damon brackets can facilitate faster tooth movement, but there is no way they can expand your arches. There is no bracket/archwire system that moves bones!

#6 Post by **bbsadmin** » Thu Jan 17, 2008 1:50 am

ohmyjaw wrote:I have to agree with Meryaten - I read the Damon page http://www.archwired.com/Damon_Bracket_System.htm and I think it's a bunch of misinformation.

I will accept that perhaps Damon brackets can facilitate faster tooth movement, but there is no way they can expand your arches. There is no bracket/archwire system that moves bones!

It is important to understand that THAT article is one opinion by an orthodontist who uses Damon. It is not gospel. If an orthodontist wants to write an article stating that Damon works no better than any other system, I would welcome it. But so far, nobody has stepped up to the plate on that issue, perhaps for legal reasons.

#7 Post by **boots** » Sat Jan 19, 2008 9:11 am

I am very happy with Damon system. I had several consulatations and all wanted to pull teeth and gave me an estimated time of 30-36months.

I found an ortho in Dallas/Plano area that did not pull any teeth and I just got my braces off Jan 10th!!! It took 19months.

It's amazing! The brackets are easy to clean around and I did not have any marks on my teeth from the brackets. Everyone ask me if I also got my teeth whitened. I'm also happy that my face does not look sunken. I look the same but better with straight teeth! I'm overall satisfied with Damon System !!!!!!

#8 Post by **LadyJ** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:25 am

With the caveat that this is intended to further an open debate on the topic of Damon system braces and not to become a personal issue...

I resent the implication that just because I am excited about the type of braces I have gotten, then I have simply fallen prey to "marketing hype." I'm not that simple. When my ortho explained the benefits using the Damon system would make for my case, I went home and spent months researching - and not just through Ormco's website. I looked for every blog, orthodontic practice website, review, and - yes - research journal article I could get my hands on. I was convinced that it was a good system. More imporantly, so was my ortho, and he knows a lot more about it than I do.

For every ortho you can quote who isn't impressed with them, I can find and quote an ortho who thinks they are a wonderful advance in technology.

Who is right? They are the orthos, not us. I'll leave it to them to decide, but there are enough out there who agree with me that I don't feel like I've been simply duped by advertising.

Never anywhere have I said it was a "better" treatment - except in reference to my specific case, and in that - on the advice of my ortho.

I have always upheld that a competent ortho using any type of bracket can achieve equivalent end results. And I have always advocated reasonable expectations wrt the Damon system, as "potential" benefits. In no way do I mean to imply that people with other brackets are getting "inferior" treatment. Absolutely not.

But it seems like any time someone asks about Damons, and/or anyone posts positively regarding them, they are targeted and shot down by all the "it's only hype" posts. I just feel that those of us in Damons should not have to keep our heads down and not be able to enjoy what we feel is a positive advance in technology simply because others aren't impressed with it and/or don't have it. (And it's not just me. I have been PM'd by others who feel there is a lot of anti-Damon sentiment on this board.)

Can we not present reasonable objections without denigrating the system as "merely hype"?

#9 Post by **Lisa65** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:14 am

I generally stay out of the Damon-related discussions because I don't have them and my ortho doesn't use them. When we had a heated Damon thread once before I asked him what he thought of them and he said he had nothing against them and they were a perfectly good system, but in his opinion most of Ormco's blurb IS hype, and they were no better or worse than any other system. His preference is not to use self-ligating brackets of any brand.

I think the anti-Damon posts can get a bit heated. But in my view that's because we get new members coming here almost every week, saying that their orthos have promised them miracles using Damons, or that they have read Ormco's literature and are convinced that Damons are some sort of cure-all, and that the use of Damons is the only solution to their orthodontic problems which would otherwise involve multiple extractions and/or jaw surgery. When in actuality the success or failure of any orthodontic treatment depends on multiple factors, of which the bracket system used comes way down the list.

I consider it a duty for forum members to ensure (to the best of their ability) that any information they pass on is correct and not misleading to newer members who might not be as well informed.

Nobody is saying that Damon is a bad or ineffective system or that patients and orthos should not use them if they so wish. But the OP on this thread has already posted several times about her dissatisfaction with the results of the treatment she's received so far, and I for one would hate her to think that PURELY the use of Damons is going to be the answer to all her problems when other systems will not do the job. Whether or not she eventually gets a result she's happy with depends on the skill of her orthodontist and not the brand of her brackets.

#10 Post by **Miss Smiley** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 12:07 pm

Now if self-ligating braces could solve world hunger and give us all peace on earth, that would be something to really jump on!

#11 Post by **BenB** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 3:31 pm

I'm coming from a purely ignorant stand point here and don't really have much knowledge about orthodontics, but I'm struggling to realise what the big deal is about extractions. I have two second bicuspid's extracted top and bottom with the view that the gaps could be closed easily with no ill effects. While browsing through the forum I've seen alot of posts about sunken faces and I'm starting to worry a little, I was never made aware of any of this by my ortho.

#12 Post by **LadyJ** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 4:46 pm

Lisa65 wrote:I consider it a duty for forum members to ensure (to the best of their ability) that any information they pass on is correct and not misleading to newer members who might not be as well informed.

Oh, I agree completely. I have no problem with that. That's why if someone comes on asking about Damons I'm always careful to specify what my ortho said about my case and to refer them back to their own ortho with questions. I won't make any sweeping statements.

And I think that posters who have had experience with them (like bracedintx) that is different than the usual claims should speak up and give their side. And other posters with cautionary statements should speak up as well. I'm all about having full information - that's why I researched before agreeing to this course of treatment. I wanted to know what I could reasonably, really expect.

I'd just like to see the counter position taken a little less derisively, so that it doesn't come across that those of us who do have them (or want them) have just fallen prey to some slick advertisement, when in fact (in my case at least) I had never heard of them but my ortho was very excited to use them, and I deferred to his training and experience in the area, and now I just want to enjoy and be confident in my course of treatment.

#13 Post by **ohmyjaw** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 8:13 pm

can anyone tell me something about damonsystem braces. If they work well on adults, and if they really can expand the lower and upper jaw without any longterm sideeffects? Do teeth reamin stable?

The simple answer to the above post is "no". I think we all agree on that, right?

we get new members coming here almost every week, saying that their orthos have promised them miracles using Damons

Seriously? That's a bit scary.

#14 Post by **katarinarano** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:31 pm

Hallo,

My new ortho is telling me that Damon braces are less agressive on theets and there roots. She told me that the wire moves loosely through each backed. Resulting that each tooth has some normal movements. This movement is positive for the bone regeneration, especially in people with some boneloss. The only thing I do not understand is how they can open up spaces for implants and widens the arches without any boneloss.
With regular braces I would get implants after 8 month during treatment. With the damon braces I have to wait 18 month to go for implants. After such a long time period I would need some bonegrafts. I'm really confused, and do not know what is best to do. All other orthos with regular braces told me my teeth can not be moved out due to boenloss. All domon brace orthos told me that the bone will regrow???

Katy

#15 Post by **katarinarano** » Mon Jan 21, 2008 10:43 pm

Does anyone know for how many years damon braces are on the market?

Did anyone hear of anyone who lost teeths after treatment?

What are the sideeffects of treatment?

How do damaon braces work on people who would normally need jaw churgery?

All I hope is that the damon braces will give me back what my first ortho took away from me. my face.

Katy