What are spacers?

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#1 Post by **sonyablade** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 9:08 pm

I might seem dumb but I have no idea what spacers are...but they seem scary. Can somebody explain what they are and in what situation would you need them?

#2 Post by **drazda** » Tue Feb 21, 2006 10:19 pm

Those who have molar bands need spacers. They make space between your molars so they can fit the bands. I fortunately, have no molar bands so I lucked out and never had to have spacers.

#3 Post by **KitCaboodle** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 8:15 am

Hi, Sonya! Spacers really aren't scary. I just got mine put in two days ago in preparation for braces. Mine look like really tiny rubber bands, and they got wedged between my teeth (instead of looping over them like a rubber band would). The ortho's assistant did mine. She stretched out the band and stuck it inbetween my molars. It's like getting your teeth flossed at the dentist's, although the bands are wider than floss and there was a lot of pressure fitting them in. It wasn't scary at all. The spacers sit there and force your teeth to move out a little. (Mine are moving already, I can feel the change in my bite.) I had eight of them, although one popped out. I called the ortho's office and they said that they should have room to fit the bands without it.

I didn't have any pain immediately afterwards, although my teeth began to ache several hours later and worsened the next day. I was restricted to soft foods--steamed vegetables, soup, ramen noodles, etc. Today it's worlds better--there's hardly any pain unless I'm chewing. Hope this helps. =) There's more info on spacers on the archwired FAQ, I believe.

#4 Post by **Raspberry** » Thu Feb 23, 2006 9:36 am

I had metal spacers. I would describe them as springs. they had a little loop on the outside and two sides between my teeth, one pushing on one tooth, the other side pushing on the other tooth. They didn't hurt until I tried to chew anything hard or chewy.

You can see them between my molars in this photo.