Metal Mouth Message Board

I have damon type 2 braces and have a powerchain

I didn't realise what it was called until I saw photos of other people's teeth on this forum.

I didn't even know you can get colour choices, my orthodontist put a clear one on which turns yellow as I am indian and eat lots of curries!

Can damon braces also have ligaments?

You probably mean ligatures. No, Damons are what is called self-ligating brackets, i.e. they don't need the little o'rings rubberbands around each bracket to hold the archwire. Instead, every bracket has a little "door" that the ortho opens to remove the old archwire and then closes after he had placed the new one.

I have damon 3s and my ortho still puts ligs on. One of the assistants said it was mostly for comfort. They also said that I don't have to have them if I don't want them. I get them though so I can pick colors!!
I'd ask your ortho about the ligs and different colors for the powerchain.

Yup I mean ligatures

I'm definately going to ask about coloured powerchains at my next app on the 13th

Not sure about getting ligs though as I don't mind not having them

I know it's unusual for someone with damon braces to have a powerchain but I definately have one on my uppers

I think its to secure my temp false tooth and also to help close gaps I have from when my upper pre-molars were extracted prior to having my braces put on

Can't wait till till I can have this yucky stained yellow powerchain removed!

I wish I could get coloured powerchains

I asked my orthodontist at my appointment and he asked the nurse who found some a tube of red but it was so old it became distorted when pulled so couldn't be used at all.

So i'm stuck with clear ones

Howdy,
I'm not sure that it's all that unusual for folks with Damons to have powerchains.

I've had powerchains at least twice with my Damons (I have one now) and I'm pretty sure that other folks have them as well. I was ending up with a gap between two molars because my elastic was pulling one of the molars into a space where I'm missing a tooth. I got a powerchain "from 7 to 7" - across all of my bottom teeth and everything tightened up very nicely.

I'm not sure if my ortho will get in any colours as i'm getting my treatment free on the NHS (National Health Service)

I may consider asking him if he will on my next app though.

He seemed to imply they are not popular and thats why he didn't stock them, but I think that since he never gives anyone the option for colours most of the other patients don't know you can get colours.

I didn't know until I started using this site!

Karen, its great you can get your own colours.
I wonder if my normal dentist stocks them or my cousins who are dentists, hmm..

I only said I know its unusual for damons to have powerchains bcoz of what broochie said (see below)

You probably mean ligatures. No, Damons are what is called self-ligating brackets, i.e. they don't need the little o'rings rubberbands around each bracket to hold the archwire. Instead, every bracket has a little "door" that the ortho opens to remove the old archwire and then closes after he had placed the new one.

Broochie's post didn't say anything about powerchains. It was about ligatures. Ligatures are not the same as powerchains. Ligatures (or ligs) are used with some types of brackets; some types of brackets like Damons are self-ligating so they don't need the separature ligatures to hold in the archwires. Powerchains are used to change the relative position of teeth.

So, Broochie gave you a good answer - about ligs.

On my next app (Wed 17th) i'll ask about coloured powerchains again and whether I can buy them from anywhere

It'll be great if I can!

learn something new every day... I didn't know powerchains could be used with Damons!