question about arch

Message

#1 Post by **starbaby71** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:29 am

I was just wondering how an arch can be made wider? My ortho told me I have a narrow arch and he plans on making it wider. He mentioned bringing my teeth forward which would explain how it will get wider in the front but what about my molars? Would he have to use an expander? I'm not quite sure what those are for..

#2 Post by **ghotieyes** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:37 pm

I have narrow arches too, along with a ton of other problems. I had 2 options. Option 1 was get ceramic braces and expanders and go for 2.5-3 years. Option 2 was metal braces and no expanders and 2-2.5 years. I went with Option 1 b/c I wanted the ceramics. I have the DMAX-2000 expander and it's this spring & rod contraption with molar bands for my 4 & 6 teeth and it pushes my teeth outwards to widen the arch and make more room for my crowded teeth.

#3 Post by **mindwaves** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 8:53 pm

I have been curious of the same thing. I have Damon braces and a narrow arch and I have always wondered how the Damons say that they can expand the arch without using palatal expanders. What makes them so different from other braces? All braces have archwires which have memory so I would assume that they could also expand the arch, but apparently now. Any input would be helpful.

#4 Post by **mindwaves** » Thu Jul 27, 2006 11:03 pm

Yeah, I guess most of it is advertising hype, but they do still need to have some data to back it up and I would be most curious if anyone could dig up some information. It would be most informative. Thanks.

#5 Post by **ghotieyes** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:37 pm

My ortho didn't go into detail during my consultation about how the metal brackets can work w/o the expanders. When I got my expanders put in, he says to give it a while to get used to it, and if really can't stand it, he has an alternative, which is a half metal/half ceramic bracket system. And by that, I don't mean mixed ceramics with metals; each individual bracket was literally split between the two types on the top and bottom! He said I won't get as good of a result, but if I couldn't live with the expander, then that would be another way to go.

#6 Post by **JoeMama** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 12:47 pm

Hi mindwaves - there's some info on the Dr. portion of the Damon website. Keep in mind that it's there own product they're writing about, so it's probably a little one sided.

http://www.ormco.com/damon/theSystem/index.cfm

I have Damon braces and they've done a tremendous job widening my arch. I'm not saying they're the only way or best way, but so far, with the skill of my ortho, their claims have held true.

#7 Post by **jbjalways** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 1:40 pm

Meryaten wrote:
The front of my arch has widened and rounded out very nicely. On the other hand, I don't know how much widening archwires and brackets alone can affect at the very back. I suspect that is where expanders must be brought to bear to make much gain.

Your arch looks great, did you have the expander? Mine is very very narrow, I think more so than your beginning. Hoping mine widens up a bit even though I am going the Damon route.

#8 Post by **Lisa65** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 2:18 pm

My top arch is narrow like yours was too, Meryaten. And I was wondering how it would be improved without surgery or an expander. So having seen your pic I'm hopeful that mine will look like that too eventually.

#9 Post by **ingyandbert** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 4:57 pm

My progress is very similar to Meraytan's. I have Damon braces and my arches have widened dramatically with no extractions and no expander. I'm thrilled!

#10 Post by **grinning** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 8:36 am

I also have a narrow arch, and it is questionable as to whether or not my relatively straight top teeth can be expanded enough to fit in my bottom crowded ones (without a lower extraction). So I have had uppers only for the past two months to see how much expansion can be achieved. The difference between the upper and lower arch now is amazing! The upper is quite a bit wider - enough so that the teeth don't fit together at all now! Annoying yes, but at least they won't be pulling any teeth without knowing for sure that they need to!

When the ortho and I were discussing which system to use he showed me the difference between a damon archwire and an archwire used in other systems. The damon was significantly wider, in a very dramatic U shape compared to the others. The idea of corse being that it can then widen an arch more successfully. Some ortho's really like it, and others go a different way - it's all which system they know and are best at I guess.

#11 Post by **grinning** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 12:51 pm

I'm sorry, I was misunderstood. I actually don't have damons, so I know that other systems work wonderfully too! And I didn't realize that orthos use archwires interchangably, so I guess what I was told about the archwires means not a whole lot...

I was only trying to comment on why the damons say they work so much better.