What stage am I at ? + gauge question

[fangsbegone]

I've had braces for 4 years now

I've got a 19x25 Ni-Ti wire on top and a 18x25 on the bottom.

My ortho says I'm almost done and that the top is being adjusted at the roots.

Does anyone know if the wires translate into a particular phase of treatment ?

Also, with extractions is any midline perfect ? mine is still quite off and she says its finished :O

[sirwired]

When your tooth alignment is done, you'll be in rectangular stainless wire. How far until you are at that stage on both arches? How much further work needs to be done? Both questions for your ortho. (Some people are in the "final wire" for a year while other work (usually with elastics) is done.)

I wouldn't worry about your midline too much; studies have shown that a midline has to be off by 4mm or so before anybody casually looking at you will notice. (4mm is a lot.) You may not have a future career as a model for dental-products brochures, but unless that was your lifelong dream, I wouldn't worry about it.

[LeedsTiger]

[quote="fangsbegone"]I've had braces for 4 years now

I've got a 19x25 Ni-Ti wire on top and a 18x25 on the bottom.

My ortho says I'm almost done and that the top is being adjusted at the roots.

Does anyone know if the wires translate into a particular phase of treatment ?

Also, with extractions is any midline perfect ? mine is still quite off and she says its finished :O[/quote]

First post following sign-up, not trying to derail your thread.

It's somewhat reassuring to realise there are people out there whose treatment time exceeds mine. I'm now at 3 years 2.5months with Damon braces. To be honest I have never asked my ortho about the specifics of each wire, but I believe I'm on the final rectangular wire. Currently wearing elastics in a rectangular configuration on both sides.

[sirwired]

No idea what's being referred to when he says "orange". Maybe at his office that particular wire is in an orange-colored slot in his archwire organizer?

As far as your midline goes; could you include your full nose in the picture? Off-hand, just looking at your lips, it doesn't seem too far off, maybe a couple mm.

[Bikerchick85]

It looks to me like your midline is off because that one lateral incisor looks bigger than the other. As sirwired pointed out.. it'd be better to be able to see your nose in the pic.
Your smile looks great though!

[Lalaloo]

What kind of wire is used to pull down a tooth?

[sirwired]

Could be done with elastics, could be done through a bracket reposition (if the brackets are currently in-line) along with a series of progressively stiffer wire. It depends on the treatment plan, current tooth and arch state, and exactly what needs correcting.

[TMJJill]

I think your answer really lies in a discussion with your Orthodontist. What did you want to accomplish with your braces treatment? Have you accomplished that yet? I'm not certain there is a 'perfect' finish, just the one that is best for you.

I was trying to re-establish a bite that had gotten off-kilter. I got my bite in order, but when the braces came off, I had new gap by my pre-molars. It wasn't 'perfect' like I'd hoped, but all the teeth were in good alignment for a strong bite. If I'd chosen to close the gap, it would have thrown off my bite on that side again. After some discussion, I ended up choosing to accept the 'imperfection' as part of my uniqueness. Now, if my bite was still off and they wanted to remove the braces, I would have chosen to fight that since I wouldn't have accomplished my goal at that point.

[sirwired]

Your upper midline looks about 1 mm to the left; your lower about 2 mm more to the left. It'll be a lot less apparent once the brackets come off as there won't be those contrasty stainless-steel brackets acting as convenient reference points. I wouldn't worry about it.

Funny story: My lower midline was almost exactly one entire tooth shifted to the right before treatment (comically deformed jaw.) When I went in for my first consult with my oral surgeon, he had a resident do initial measurements. The resident reported that my lower midline was 1 mm to the left. The oral surgeon comes in to check his work and consult with me... he calls the resident back in, and starts pointing at my teeth while barking "Central Incisor!, Lateral Incisor!, Canine!, Bicuspid!" The resident was pretty embarrassed. I think this same resident was the one that ended up assisting on my surgery! (I'm pretty sure he had a better grasp of dental anatomy by that point!)

[TMJJill]

I had one front tooth that was a bit smaller and a bit different in shape than the rest. During treatment, when it didn't erupt like some other teeth did, he would sing 'one of these teeth is not like the other....'. When the braces came off, my dentist did the composite thing for me. It looks 'natural'.

[Lorianne]

TMJJill, any way you could post a before and after pic? I have a front tooth slightly smaller too and wanted to see if composite is an option for me too by comparing to your teeth. Thank you in advance!!

[Lorianne]

Hey guys

thanks for all the responses

my left lateral incisor is about 80% the size of the other. This is due to wear and tear from it's positioning during treatment.
Repositioning the bracket to bring it down is something I've looked at with my ortho, the cosmetic composite should sort this though as it is mostly a smaller width. I've got very small extraction gaps on the lowers

Here's a pic with my nose I checked and my uppers are 19x25 rectangular ! Hope that means something

Wow! Your teeth look great though!

[fangsbegone]

Thanks guys for all the compliments and general advise !

I'd love to see a before and after of a composite build up if anyone has one.

[fangsbegone]

6 months left apparently - does it ever end ?