Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi guys

well i got my treatment plan in the post this morning and part of my treatment included having a nance button for anchorage support.

Can anyone tell me what a nance button is and what it does?? Also if anyone has had or has a nance button could you let me know your experiences with it?

Thanks very much

Hannah x

Hello Hannah

I've also got a nance button - I've had it since the start of my treatment almost 8 months ago. Mine is basically a button like thing, about the size of about a 20p piece, that sits in the roof of my mouth with a wire coming out either side which then attaches to my molar bands. Hard to explain... It is there to hold my back teeth in place. I had a couple of pre-molars taken out and the nance is there to make sure the back teeth behind the gaps don't move forward into the gaps, so that the front teeth can move back. I've got an overjet that I am trying to sort out.

I am so used to it that I can hardly feel it any more but it did take a little while to get used to. It kind of felt like I constantly had a boiled sweet in my mouth and I found I produced more saliva than normal! Also, I think I did lisp a little bit at first, but not too bad.

Food sometimes gets stuck under it, which can be annoying, but that really is the only problem with it.

Try not to worry about it - it may feel a bit strange at first but you will get used to it really quickly. It doesn't bother me at all.

Hi there Hannah

Here is a pic of my nance button. It's used to hold the first molars in position either while the front teeth are pulled backwards, or in my case it was while my 2nd molars were being pushed backwards. It took a few days to get used to it, but in general they are not too much of an inconvenience.

Hey, this is really interesting. I've been looking up info about Nance appliances earlier, and I couldn't really understand how they work but I think now I'm getting it.

Some rely on a "button" and some don't, right ? I imagine the button provides better anchorage. In either case, the device presses against the front roof of the mouth and pushes back the molars ? And with braces on then all of the teeth are moved back ? This would be desirable if you are class II division 2 with forward flare of the central incisors ? The mechanics of these devices is fascinating. It's truly engineering of the mouth.

Sandra, as far as I know, the ones without a button are usually just called a palatal arch or TPA, and their main function is to maintain arch width at the molars. They can also rotate molars. They aren't necessarily in full contact with the roof of the mouth.

A Nance, with its attendant acrylic button, will also rotate molars and maintain arch width, but also will provide anchorage using the the patient's hard palate to push against.

Using my own case as an example (I'm not vain honestly! ) I had to have my 2nd molars pushed back about 5mm using various distalizing loops and springs. Without the Nance appliance, my first molars would probably have been pushed forwards by the force - definitely an unwanted consequence as they are already too far forward! Remember Newton's 3rd law that each action has an equal and opposite reaction. The Nance won't push teeth backwards by itself, but it will stop unwanted forward movement while teeth are moved using other methods such as springs, implants, headgear etc etc.