Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi Friends!

So, i got Damon 3 brackets on my upper teeth a little over a month ago, and unlike the other posts I've read so far, I seem to be having little progress! At least from what I can see so far.

My orthodontist told me that since my problem is a slight crowding in my front teeth, what he is doing is using a lighter wire to expand my teeth before the actual alignment. He also mentioned that the inital expansion may take a few months, and then after that, he'll change to a heavier wire and i should be seeing my teeth straighten.

I just haven't seen anyone else mention this part of their Damon 3 progress, and was wondering if my orthodontist really knows what he's doing! He says he just started the Damon treatment not too long ago.
Thanks everyone!

My orthodontist uses only Damon 3/MX and Invisalign braces. He attends orthodontic conferences whenever they arise so he keeps up to date, I would imagine yours does the same. I've had my Damon 3s in for two months now and just had the archwire changed 3 days ago. The assistant told me the first wire was to loosen the teeth, and unravel them. The second archwire (which to me was a lot tighter) is used to further unravel and move them into position. I was told 10 weeks from now (my next archwire) all my teeth should be straight - from there its a matter of expending the palate and rotating teeth to its proper position (I'm assuming). I've noticed results already.

My orthodontist uses only Damon 3/MX and Invisalign braces. He attends orthodontic conferences whenever they arise so he keeps up to date, I would imagine yours does the same. I've had my Damon 3s in for two months now and just had the archwire changed 3 days ago. The assistant told me the first wire was to loosen the teeth, and unravel them. The second archwire (which to me was a lot tighter) is used to further unravel and move them into position. I was told 10 weeks from now (my next archwire) all my teeth should be straight - from there its a matter of expending the palate and rotating teeth to its proper position (I'm assuming). I've noticed results already.

whoa.. sorry about the two posts being the same. It said it didn't send at first so I resubmitted. HA. Anyways I forgot to mention that as of now.. the Damon system is still clinically proven to be faster than any other brace system. You have the upper hand. Don't worry so much.

Mine's been in spurts... the first wires hurt and I noticed a lot of movement, the second ones I thought "gee, this isn't so bad", hardly any pain but hardly any movement, then the third visit they put a wire in my lowers that felt like it was the size of a coat hanger, threw on a power chain on top and said have a great day! lots of movement after that visit.
Overall, I think it varies from one person to the next, probably, and you might have a more noticeable change the next time you go in... I've heard the stories of folks who had them on for 6-8 months with a far worse case than me and gone, "But.. but..."
Stay optomistic!

Hi Calypsojunky. I had slight crowding, an uneven bite and narrow arch. I was put in Damon 3's as well. What I first noticed is that he worked on intruding my upper front teeth (way too long) while he expanded the arch - which allowed room for the straightening. I have been in braces now for 20 months. In that time, I have probably had my arch wires changed about 6 or 7 times - the top and bottom are not always changed at the same time, though. I started into elastics at 14 months. Because my crowding was slight, too, it I didn't see much movement, but I could feel that movement was taking place.

You will probably be surprised/pleased at the changes taking place in your teeth alignment. Good luck to you...

Dear everyone that replied,

Thanks for your insights, I'll do my best to be patient!

I think everyone if different, so your progress will depend on your teeth. I'm in Damons too, and I didn't realize how much my teeth had moved until I went in and my ortho pulled out my original casting. It's hard to see the overall progress when you see your teeth everyday. I was actually pretty amazed when I saw that, because I wasn't aware they had moved that much. Someone else mentioned this and I've noticed it too, my progress comes in stages. When I got my wire changed, my teeth moved a bunch, but since then I can't tell. But your teeth will move! Don't get discouraged.

I also have Damon 3 brackets.. I had them put on June 5, 2006. I too am seeing slooow progress. They didn't put the bottom archwire through the last tooth (not sure why) so my bottoms have had movement in the wrong direction a few more crooked teeth than I started with. I've read in other posts though that the first wire is just to loosen the teeth and we should see good movement on our next archwire placement. Good luck

They didn't bracket my last two teeth either, on either the top or bottom...not sure why, because when I open my mouth, I can see all the other teeth (somewhat) in alignment, but the last two slightly off.

I'll have to remember to ask my ortho why they do that on Tuesday when I go in..

I actually have brackets on every tooth on top.. and on every tooth on the bottom but the arch wire is not through the back molars on the bottom. The molars in front of them are now turning sideways and they were not one of the ones I had a problem with. I see my orth on Tuesday and I have a list of questions for them. Funny when I had them put on I had no questions until you have them on you really don't know what to ask.

maybe the reason he bracketed them, but did not use the wire is because he is trying to give your mouth a chance to adjust. I didn't get brackets on my 2nd molars until about 8 months into treatment when I pointed out to my orthodontist that the alignment of uppers to lowers was way off on one side back there. After he put the brackets and wires back there, my mouth really got rubbed almost raw there because the cheek is so close to those teeth. Just a thought...

Generally speaking, the less out of position your teeth are the more subtle your progress will be. Damons always start with a very light wire and move on to progressively thicker (and more square) wires as time goes on. That's because the teeth must be loosened before they can be moved. Also, if you look in your mouth a lot chances are you're not seeing the movement because you're used to looking at your teeth. When you have your next appointment, ask you ortho to show you your "before" photos and you'll probably see a significant different. At my first adjustment, I didn't think things were all that different until they showed me my before photos. Then I saw a fairly dramatic difference.

When people refer to wires as being "square", do they mean the cross section of the wire is square, or the shape that the wire is bent into?