Metal Mouth Message Board

I'm sure this has already been answered a thousand times but I appear to be too stupid to get the search tool to work properly (sorry).
Anyway, I got my first power chain put on on Friday after my ortho ground a gap between two teeth in order to make them fit better together. I've read other members comments about how fast these things can move your teeth and quite frankly didn't believe it until my gap closed in less than two days. So I was wondering do power chains come in different strengths/ do they always work so fast, or does it depend on how loose/mobile your teeth are at the time?
I was also wondering if power chains always make your teeth this tender? Mine are feeling mighty sensitive right now, please tell me this will not be the case every time I get a power chain. Or perhaps I'm just being a bit pathetic?

So I was wondering do power chains come in different strengths/ do they always work so fast, or does it depend on how loose/mobile your teeth are at the time?
I was also wondering if power chains always make your teeth this tender? Mine are feeling mighty sensitive right now, please tell me this will not be the case every time I get a power chain. Or perhaps I'm just being a bit pathetic?

Hi Cactus,

To answer your first question, yes, power chains do come in different strengths. I can't find the picture right now, but the closer the loop, the stronger the chain. Some have the loops that are really close to each other, sort of like this XXXXXX (stronger) and then there are some like this 0-0-0-0-0-0 (weaker). Either way, they definitely move teeth closer together.

As for your second question, I don't think anyone can tell you how uncomfortable you're going to be after each adjustment. I received power chains at my first adjustment (they were uncomfortable), but had them removed at the second adjustment. At the second adjustment, I received a heavier arch wire which hurt more than the power chain. So, it's a crap shoot, I guess. The good news is, the pain is (usually) temporary and is gone in about a week or so (in my case, anyway).

I don't think you're being a bit pathetic about the pain. Braces do hurt at times and there's nothing wrong with stating so. You're not being pathetic.

Hey, thanks for the words of confidence lilblackdress! I was a little worried because my teeth feel more uncomfortable right now than when I got the brace put on, but I guess thats just how things go .
I suppose I'm lucky that its just the top front four teeth, so I'll just have to cut my food up real small to get in without biting it off (chewing's no problem for me fortunately).

Meryaten wrote: My best guess is that the dyes they use subtly change the elasticity of the chains.

Yup! That's right. The same goes for ligs too. It's also why they wouldn't let me get flourecent colours the day I got braced (hot pink, lime green, glow in the dark etc.) because the companies put more die into the brighter ones. The more die makes them less strong and more likely to fall apart sooner.

Wow, thanks all for the info! Where on earth do you get all the great material/details Meryaten? Thanks!
Anyway things are starting to feel a little better today, also I was feeling a bit sorry for myself yesterday. People always seem to pick the "best" time to invite/insist you attend a BBQ (in South Africa we usually grill things like steak and eat it with bread rolls etc, a bit tough for sensitive teeth!) so needless to say yesterday was not the most fun I've had this year. but such is life I guess, and the discomfort is already getting better fortunately so I'm sure I'll be fine in a day or two.
Thanks again for the information and encouragement, it's appreciated

Anyway, I got my first power chain put on on Friday after my ortho ground a gap between two teeth in order to make them fit better together. I've read other members comments about how fast these things can move your teeth and quite frankly didn't believe it until my gap closed in less than two days.

I had power chains for one month. It closed my gaps in couple days,too. But I had to go down with archwire sizes and power chain could not be used anymore. THE GAPS opened in couple of hours. Very nice.

I had my second adjustment yesterday morning. I also was delighted to be equipped with a power chain. My appointment was at 9am and by the time I came home from work my gap was completely closed.

I had chains put on my uppers about 2 ajustments ago and I wanted the gray ones but they were not as strong as the silver ones. And yes they are all a bit tight right off the bat but once they strech in a day or two they are comfortable.

From my experiences, they are, indeed, very fast and very painful

Wow, thanks all for the info! Where on earth do you get all the great material/details Meryaten? Thanks!

CactusZAF~ I asked Meryaten the same thing many months ago. She very modestly replied that she is merely an expert at cut and paste. Don't believe her! He knowledge is only surpassed by her endless generosity sharing it ---you will see.....

Well Andantae, although we will probably never know where Meryaten gets all those excellent bits of info, I for one certainly do appreciate her generosity sharing it with us

For me the gaps I had on top closed really fast . My bottom teeth is a different story! I've had powerchains on the bottom teeth since Sept. So far I could say that the gaps have closed 50% . I had an exctraction #24 .My bottom front tooth ,so I was left with a pretty big gap. Now that gap is 50% closed and there are gaps like 2.5mm down to 1.5mm .I forgot what strength powerchain I have on but my ortho has been putting a stronger powerchain every 4 weeks! For me ,they are very painful to put on! Each loop goes on the bracket and there are no spaces between each tooth. So imagine one loop per bracket so he pulls the powerchain all the way to the next tooth which makes me cringe and squeeze the chair or my hand lol.When I saw the powerchain he took out I told him " OMG those are some really closed tight loops,this is gonna hurt like H--L isn't it!? We both laughed and I opened wide and he put them on really fast so I would not be squirming in my seat.
The pain was bad the first day and a half. Then the teeth were just really tender to touch and finally after a week the pain was gone
The GOOD thing is you have to remember that the pain is temporary and it does get better! This is the only reason why I think I can accept this! lol

Gennel

I think it depends on the size of the gap, the size of the teeth & the size of the power chain. Im currently 3 months in with traditionals & had a power chain 6-6 (count, 6 teeth on the left side of your mouth, to 6 teeth on the right side of your mouth; it's first molar to first molar) on my bottom teeth for the first two months of treatment, in attempt to close a midline gap. In that two months, the gap closed very little, if at all. My 4 front lower teeth are very small & gap was maybe 2mm wide, so maybe it was difficult for the power chain to "sense" there was even a gap there, if you know what I mean. However, at my last adjustment, they gave me a thicker wire and changed the power chain from 6-6 to 3-3(count 3 teeth on left side to 3 teeth on right side; it's canine to canine) on the lower, probably to put force in that particular area/to make the power chain focus in that particular area. Within hours, the gap instantly began to close, and within 2 days, it was almost completely closed. 3 weeks later, it still isn't completely closed (but so small that no one would notice unless they were looking for it), but I have an adjustment next week, so we'll see what happens. Once again, I feel like the reason the power chain is struggling is because those teeth are really small, so the brackets are already really close together, if you know what I mean. I have a large gap between my two maxillary central incisors (you can fit an iPhone 5 in between it, with room for it to move around!) i would say a power chain 3-3 could close that in minutes (a 1-1 probably in seconds). I even feel like a 6-6 or 7-7 could close it in hours. I'm still yet to get a power chain on my maxillary teeth, maybe(hopefully) at my next adjustment.. The thing to know is that the smaller the power chain (like the 3-3 I told you about) the faster the gap in that particular area will close, because the power chain can focus more on those teeth, if you know what I mean. It actually really makes sense.