Archwire Sizes

[kellyb]

Im in either 016 or 018 now.

which one did you start on?

[jamsmak04]

My first wire was a .014 and then 5 months later I got a .018 and the .018 is my last wire. My ortho says its their thickest.

[trisportgirl]

The pain has more to do with the force exerted on the teeth. My first wire was very painful even though it was light, simply because my teeth were so far out of alignment. My second wire hurt much less because even though it was thicker, my teeth had moved a lot closer to their final positions. My third wire hurt a lot more again, but it is also my first rectangular wire so it is putting pressure on my teeth in ways the round wires didn't. I hope that at least somewhat answered our question!

[BracedSurgeryStudent]

Top: 018 on 018 (square)
Bottom: 014 on 025 (rectangle)

[spotmom1]

i started with a 014 heat wire. After that i moved to a 016 niti memory wire, graduated to an 018 niti memory wire. Only 3 months into treatment and I am already at the top of the size chain that fits in my ceramic brackets. I get my bottom ones on the 23rd - my bottoms hardly need movement just some aligning and bottom wisdom teeth pulled to make room for alignment. I'll let you know what size they put on the bottoms.

[BracedSurgeryStudent]

I believe I am on either 019 on 025 or 021 on 025