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Hi, I am new to this forum. It seems like a great site. I'm 31 years old and finally decided to get my teeth fixed. Anyway, I went in for my ortho consult last week and decided to get braces. They took impressions, pictures and x-rays. They told me to come in Jan. 17th to get my braces. From what I have read on this site, shouldn't I get spacers before I get braces? I don't know anything about braces so any help would be appreciated, thanks.
I don't have to have spacers before my braces go on so I don't know a lot of information about them, but I think its only if you have severe crowding in which they can't work around it. Kelly
Impressions on 12/5/05
Full Braces(ceramic top, metal bottom) 12/19/05
I'm getting spacers because I will have bands placed on my molars since I will be having an expander placed in my upper arch prior to getting braces. The bands are going to connect to my expander to hold the expander in place. There are plenty of people that don't need bands so consider yourself one of the lucky ones. I'm sure there are other reasons people have bands placed on their teeth but this is the reason for me.
I believe the spacers were needed on my molars because the teeth were too close together to put on the molar bands. Now, if there had been more space back there, the spacers (aka separators) may not have been needed. Everyone's case is different.