Metal Mouth Message Board

How did your ortho close the spaces following the expansion? Could as many of you reply as possible so I get a sense of the "standard procedure".

The reason that I ask is that my ortho is closing the spaces tooth by tooth, whereas in many of the postings you talk about your ortho using a "chain" closing many teeth over at once. They have been closing my teeth over for 9 months now and I face another 6 to 9 months of this snails pace.

Looking forward to your replies. Thanks in advance.

Hey Selims,
Sounds like your ortho continues to do things very conservatively! My spaces are mostly all closed now. My ortho used a powerchain from one side to the other, on both my uppers and lowers. It has been 10 months and my teeth look pretty darn straight with no noticible spaces.

I have had probalby 3 different chains now. Hope this helps.

Brandy

Brandy,

This is my second ortho. You know all about my first one. Now I am getting frustrated with my second one, and I am beginning to feel like I am either the world's worst patient or the world's unluckiest one.

Before I start whinging at the new one, I want to get my facts straight. This ortho never used a power-chain. Instead they tie thin pieces of elastic, tooth by tooth. I presumed that the power-chain was the standard (from reading posts on this site and from the blogs linked on this site) and it was used so you could move teeth simultaneously.

Its been 9 months (with this one) and my front four teeth are now together, for the past month they have been working on the third teeth on each side. It is kind of frustrating (given I had my expansion a year and a half ago - the first ortho didn't close any spaces after 6 months).

Other comments/views would be appreciated (and thanks again Brandy for this reply and your other replies)
Selims

Hey I can totally understand your frustration! I mean I would be livid if I was dealing with just the palate expanson stuff for a year and half! I'm only about 14 months out and will be having my jaw surgeries in another few weeks. My ortho says that my braces shouldn't be on longer and probably less then 6 months post surgery so, about 18 months total.

I would just ask your ortho if there is a reason he is not using powerchains. Tell him you are on a braces message board and it seems like everyone you have been talking to has an ortho that uses powerchains to close spaces, and that you just wondered why you haven't had any. I have never heard of the individual rubber bands tied onto each tooth, that sounds very tedious for both them and you!

Good luck! I'm sure you must be so ready to get out of braces huh? I mean I know I would be. Im' ready now and I haven't been wearing them as long as you!

Brandy

I don't think I have the same problem as I only have a few spaces (gaps) so my Ortho does them individually with an elastic loop. It is a figure eight that connects two teeth and the gap closes within the day.