Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi, I am not an avid poster, but I think this site is amazing for people of all ages with braces. I have about 1-2 more appts, then debanding! I transferred orthodontists and I am so happy with the change! My previous ortho left all the work to his assistants, and all he seemed to care about was the business, not the patients. I changed to an ortho that does her own work, and LOVE her, cuz she knows all my problem areas, whereas before I had to point them out to my old ortho. Anyway, back to my question. My ortho bent my lower wire in a few places and said that I was pretty much done with my lowers ! My uppers need more time because I havent been wearing my rubberbands regularly . I used to when I first got them, but then my old ortho made me stop in the middle, and I got out of the habit. Annnyway, back to my question again:
My new ortho used wire ligs instead of the colored ones. she used this pencil sized device, tied it around my tooth, and then she pulled the whole thing so lots of wire came out and it stuck outside my mouth. She did this to all my lowers, and cut off the stuff that was sticking out. It looked pretty cool, cuz there were these wires with spirals around them. Did anyone else experience this? if so is there a pic I can find of it? Also, what is the point of wire ligs? I like the appearance better, but is it more comfortable? Just curious, answers appreciated!

My new ortho used wire ligs instead of the colored ones. she used this pencil sized device, tied it around my tooth, and then she pulled the whole thing so lots of wire came out and it stuck outside my mouth. She did this to all my lowers, and cut off the stuff that was sticking out. It looked pretty cool, cuz there were these wires with spirals around them. Did anyone else experience this? if so is there a pic I can find of it? Also, what is the point of wire ligs? I like the appearance better, but is it more comfortable? Just curious, answers appreciated

Hi snazzynazzy,

What you described (attaching the wire ligs) is exactly how my ortho does it. Their purpose--it probably depends on the ortho and the case.

Mine uses wire ties at my request both upper and lower, and said that a nice feature of wire ties is that they will exert an even pressure on the teeth between adjustments, unlike rubber ligs which can lose elasticity, though this is not usually a problem at all). My wire ties are very comfortable as long as all of the ends are neatly tucked up under my archwires.

Meryaten, thank you! I realized when I read your post that what I typed was wrong. I said that my ortho said that the wire ties exert more even pressure on the teeth, but I meant to say what you said, that they allow for even pressure/hold of the archwire. Thank you for typing that as I didn't intend to give misinformation.

(It's pretty funny sitting there with a bunch of long wires waving out of your mouth, like nothing so much as a set of displaced cat's whiskers )

Imagine answering all her questions about what im doing in college and how my classes are going while having all those crazy wires sticking out! lol

neway, thanks for your answers! i still wish I had a picture. I didn't realize they exert even pressure.[/quote]