Sounds like what I had done at the end of my first round in braces. I never knew what it was called (I had no warning that it would be happening), I was just told I had to come in for an extra appointment the day before debanding. I turned up as requested and had a student ortho start effectively wiring my arches together with long elastics. It was horrific. Allegedly it was supposed to ".. make everything nice and tight.." for retainer impressions. I was told to come back in the morning for debanding. Apparently I was supposed to be able to drink through a straw; I never attempted it. I drove home in tears (thank god I hadn't caught public transport). Did I mention it was horrific?? It made me feel claustrophobic and panicky, and I found it incredibly demeaning. I would have appreciated being notified that it was planned, or been given the option to give my consent or not; I definitely would have refused. It certainly took the shine off my much-anticipated debanding.
Looking back though, it seems to be a pointless exercise. If teeth could be moved effectively (without relapse) overnight, surely we wouldn't be needing to go through wearing braces for 1-2 years (as seems to be the average time frame)? Since I didn't get any kind of retainers for a week post-debanding, surely any movement potentially attained during the 18-hour nightmare of 'seating' would be rendered null and void by the 7 days of unfettered teeth between debanding and getting a retainer? Wouldn't it be better to skip the 'seating' torture and protect the 'true' orthodontic movement achieved over the course of treatment by going straight into a retainer? I'm certainly no ortho but it seems to me that any movement achieved through 'seating' would be superficial and not particularly valuable.
Given that I'm now having to undergo treatment to undo the retracted mandible I didn't have before my ortho treatment, but do have following the treatment that happened to include 'seating', I have to admit that I personally would be very wary of undergoing treatment by an ortho that uses 'seating'. My current dentist is almost the opposite of my previous ortho in her approach; she's so considered and gentle, I personally think her approach is much more effective than the high-turnover, less personal approach I had with the 'seating' orthodontist. Just my 2c worth...
All the best with your debanding
