Metal Mouth Message Board

Hi all - I had extractions back in Feb and was braced in March with Nance appliance. Uppers only until July when lowers were added. Since then ortho has been focused on correcting my overbite and I've had big gaps where I used to have teeth. At my last visit he said that by my next visit they'll be ready to begin closing the extraction gaps. I go back on Wednesday and am curious about how they'll close the gaps.

So, what can I expect? What methods are used to close extraction gaps? I'm glad that they're going to work on closing the gaps, as I'm really tired of looking like a jack-o-lantern!

Closing gaps normally for adult patients seem to fall into three categories, powerchains (most common), springs (when powerchains don't work) and closing loops. The closing loops seem to be favored by some orthos but overall it seems everyone ends up with powerchains at ome point.

Mike

I had my two upper premolars extracted and my ortho used a combination of closing loops and springs. It took about 4-5 months for the gaps to close.[/img]http://s224.photobucket.com/albums/dd4/ ... g#comments

Here is a picture of the spring and closing loop to give you a better idea. Good luck!

My gaps were closed (and in some cases, created) with springs alone. I've never had a powerchain on (have self-ligating braces if that matters). The springs have always worked pretty much straight away, but they generally take a bit of time to fully close a gap

I had 8 months of powerchains to close my gaps, and my teeth hurt every single day of those 8 months Not anymore!

Quirky Girl:
Can you explain how closing loops work? I've got a space that hasn't closed in almost a year. I'm a bit ready for closure.

Mike

On the bottom of the loop, where the two pieces of wire come together, the insert a shim and pull the wire tight through the buccal tubes to activate it and as the loop closes so does the gap. I'm sorry if I didn't expain it well, let me know if you didn't understand and I will try again.

I found a picture with the loop activated that my help you understand my (terrible) expanation. Let me know if you need more information.

That makes sense. The loop acts a lot like a spring.

Mike

My gaps are being closed with powerchain. For me, it generally only hurts the day or two after the new chains are put on. I also have metal figure-8's around my lower teeth to keep their arch nice and round. On the top is just straight powerchain the whole way round. I only have two more gaps!

Each of my left gaps took a month (aka one visit to the next) to close. My right side gaps are bigger though, and with another appointment coming up and my lower gap not closed yet, I think I'll have to wait another month. But hopefully my ortho single-loops the top gap anyway. She doesn't like to tie patients in "too tightly" so we'll see.

Oh! One more thing... the first few days I had powerchain on, it hurt as bad as when I first got on my braces! But it went away. I'm glad I haven't been in pain for the most part!

Thanks everyone! Had my appt this morning - my ortho put in closing loops. It's only been about 1 1/2 hours since my appt and I can tell my teeth are going to be sore! Worth it to get the gaps closed though.

The bright spot of today - he removed the Nance appliance that I've had for about 9 months now!! It feels so good to have that gone!