Urgent multiloop edgewise arch wire treatment

[meaw]

Greetings from Austria,

I have an urgent question. today I visited my orthdontist because of jaw problems. It did not take him long in order to find all my problms concernig my jaw and the bite.
He is recommending a traetment with the MEAW technique from Sato.
I checked the inernet now and saw this looks quite different than normal treatments and I am concerned about beeing able to talk and eat. The treatment plan says three years. Please can anyone tell me the disadvantages about this treatment method?
I heard only positive things

greetings mike

[chinadoll]

Hello Mike (oder soll ich "Gruess Gott" sagen? )

I have never seen anyone else post about the Multiloop treatment on this board--how exciting to have you join! I am an American living in Asia, where the MEAW treatment is very popular. It is a non-surgical approach to correcting open bites. My open bite is only Class 1, which means I don't actually have a jaw problem, but supposedly the treatment can correct Class 1 malocclusions as well.

Hopefully the orthos on this board can post on any specific disadvantages of this treatment; all I know of for sure is that there's some debate in the west about whether or not structural jaw problems can really be corrected without surgery.

I just got elastics today. It's kind of hard to talk, but everyone says that gets better. My ortho warns me about the dangers of getting food trapped in those MEAW wires; also, the curvy wires can apparently rub against your cheek or gums, though I haven't experienced that yet.

Here is my URL under the "Our Braces Stories" section of this board--you can find pictures and more details there:

viewtopic.php?p=77785#77785

[meaw]

Hi Chinadoll,

well yes Grüß Gott sounds pretty good here back in Austria.
First of all thank you very much for your reply. Yes Iknow it is extremely rare having a doctor in Europe using this technique. Actually my orthodontist works together with some Japanaes called Sato who was also one of the inventors of this technique.
What I really want to avoid is an operartion. I have a class 2 open bite and jaw problems, big jaw problems. Even other people can hear i when i eat or open my mouth wide. Unfortunately I dont have a treatment plan yet, so I cannot use all those special words .

The only thing I was concerned was, as you too realized, that the mouth is pretty full with wires and maybe talking or eating gets quite an adventure. Not talkibg about brushing teeth.I saw your pictures I will post mine as well when I am done probably mid of April. Luckily I also have a girl friend who supports me completely when I look wild !
What i was wondering is you could use ceramics. I asked as well for the front and the anwer was no, hhm... The meaw wire will also start bewtween tooth 2 and 3, this is what I know.

Well, nihao to China and hoping to hear from you again. It is really rare to find someone having thsame treatment method..

[chinadoll]

Hi there meaw,

I understand your desire to avoid jaw surgery.Good luck starting your treatment!

To answer your question...my orthodontist did say I could use ceramics on the top 6 teeth, and I am. As far as I know they're working fine.

Eating has been difficult for me...but I remember it was difficult with ordinary braces at first too. I assume I'll get used to it. It is definitely easier to get food caught in those multiloop wires...but I always brush my teeth right after eating and that seems to work. It's really hard for me to chew with my mouth closed though...which disturbs me. I think some of that is just because of the pain of the new wires though.

I wonder if there's any way your orthodontist can put you in touch with someone who was in the MEAW for a long time (like 3 years). Since my bite is only Class 1 I will probably only be in this wire until June, depending on how things go.

Again, good luck! Keep us posted!

[meaw]

Hi chinadoll,

I have the first appointment for taking the prints and everything on the 29th. Then I will also get my treatment plan with all the information on and what is really happening.
As far as I know, first of all I also get a normal straightwire appliance and this is going to be changed after 2 months for a total of about 3 years, well long time
As I am working in a customer orientated surrounding I am a bit afraid whether talking keeps the same. Because meaw definately looks different from the normal appliance ( smiling is going to be really metallic), but if I can avoid jaw surgery ( class2 ??/) this is definately the thing to do.
Actually I am lucky because my ortho asked me whether I would like to be part of a study concerning meaw technique in europe. So I will be #presented# to other orhos and studends in a course from time to time. And there are some other patients also. This sounds trustfull and makes it cheaper .
I will keep you informed after march 29th
Greetings meaw

[chinadoll]

Hi meaw; just a quick update for you and anyone else who's interested in this treatment...I definitely think these wires affect my appearance and eating more than "normal" braces. In fact, I find myself yearning for the days when I just had an archwire--no elastics or MEAW! I'm only scheduled to have these wires for 3 months; I've found them pretty hard to get used to, but I know from getting braces that you can get used to anything.

Eating is admittedly an inconvenience because food constantly gets trapped in the multiloop wires. Luckily I've found an awesome appliance which I use after every meal; it cleans food out very quickly. Using a regular Denta-Pik takes a long time and often isn't enough. This product, by contrast, is an oral irrigator and attaches to your sink or shower: http://www.oralbreeze.com/OralBreeze-faq.html#1. It shoots the food right out of those wires, then you brush and floss like normal.

On a positive note, the wires/elastics do seem to be moving my teeth at a fair clip; 2.5 weeks til my next adjustment, though, so I'll know more then. Good luck, and it's really neat that you get to be part of a study on MEAW in Europe! Keep us posted!

[meaw]

Hi chinadoll,

thanks for replying again. Well I supposed what you wrote that meaw is definately changing your appearance and habbits somehow.
I had my first appointment and the ortho and I talked a lot about meaw, aslo that this treatment way is very common in asia but not yet in europe. there are only a handful people in my country, well sounds like SPAM )!

I will get 4 teeth extracted starting next week, those are the the wisdom teeth (?)! You know the last one. The reason I get the meaw is to lower my back teeth. I am not biting with all my teeth but only the two last molars. meaw wire is part of the treatment starting in may/june. before i get a normal archwire and metalbrackets for 2 months, then for 2 years the meaw wire.
Actually i am now quite confident and happy that i chose this way of treatment, as I really want to avoid an operation. But it is true i am a bit frightened about my future as I will be really one of the only ones having this system. And as you said, it is different than a normal archwire system a phrase also my ortho used
Well I keep posted, in the future also with pictures as soon as my treatment started.
Greetings to China from the warmy austria....

meaw

[meaw]

Hello to all, hello chinadoll,

finally I started with my treatment. Within one week I got four wisdomteeth extracted. definately not the nicest experience I ever had. Actually it feels very sore. Yesterday I had the second appointment for extracting the last 2 wisdom teeth. This is now taking time to heal. I am already on baby food and banana. bracing starts end of April. Keep you updated, then with pictures.

Chinadoll, I saw your pictures. great how fast you are advancing. This make me feel confident, that I chose the right method with Meaw, even it looks weird. Hopefully I am progressing the same.

Greetings to China and hope to hear from you..

meaw

[chinadoll]

Hi meaw and everyone,

I'm sorry I didn't reply sooner--I live in China and for some strange reason, one day last month, my internet browser stopped letting me go to this site. Kind of inexplicable...but I've been checking in periodically and finally today it worked.

I'm sorry the extractions were so painful...I remember getting wisdom teeth extracted; it's really awful. I hope you feel better; just eat lots of soft food! It's a good opportunity to enjoy ice cream.

Are you in the MEAW yet? I'd love to see pictures. By the way, don't worry--they start to feel much more normal! In my 2nd month I already can't even remember what the normal bands felt like, because these feel quite fine.