Gap

[DichCa]

Hey guys! Well I just got my braces not so long ago, but my ortho already told me that I will need this metal pully thing put in (don't know what it is called). Mine will be at the back, stuck into the gum (the thought of it freaks me out), because i have a tooth missing and it will supposedly pull on the remaining teeth to close the gap. I'm just wondering if anyone has this type of thing and how long would it take to close a big gap? I can just imagine how hard it has to pull and how much it's gonna hurt to for all this to happen! Thanks

[phanta]

I'm going to have this done, too. My ortho/surgeon called it "microimplant" but it's more commonly known as the "screw" I think In my case this is necessary to preserve the alignment of the other teeth, cause when the gap will be closing, teeth that are being pulled closer won't be relying on other teeth but on the jaw bone instead.

An assistant at the ortho office told me that actual fitting of the "screws" is not painful. They just freeze that spot and it takes like 5 minutes.

Not sure if it's painful while it's pulling (just got my braces on Wednesday so I'm far from having this done). I'll have to have this done 6-8 months into the treatment, and my treatment is supposed to be 18 months. So I guess it's about 10 months to close everything?