what shape are archwires

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#1 Post by **jalapeno** » Mon Mar 26, 2007 6:41 pm

What shape are archwires if they are activated by heat but not installed?

Are they a straight line or arch shaped?

I was also wondering, if your arch is not symetrical, in other words, if it has a slightly different curve on each side, does the ortho make you an archwire that has a different force or curve it wants to go to on each side? Or is that done by springs and elastics only?

thanks!

#2 Post by **Slickster** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 11:33 am

So what is "straight wire orthodontics" - anyone know?

I think my (potential) ortho uses this method...

#3 Post by **Rickysa** » Tue Mar 27, 2007 12:05 pm

So what is "straight wire orthodontics" - anyone know?

I think my (potential) ortho uses this method...

Successful orthodontic treatment depends on controlling the position of the tooth in all three planes of space....described as in/out, up/down, and torque.

Early orthodontists (way back when

) did this by placing bends in the wire, which engaged with a slot on the brace (all bands). Each tooth has a particular position it needs to be in, and also a particular angle (both side to side and back and forth). The wire had to take all of this into account.

Then, along comes Dr. Larry Andrews who proposes to put all of that "information" into the bracket itself, so the angle of the slot (and depth of the bracket base) would incorporate all of the tip, torque, etc for each tooth. Thus a "straight wire" could be placed.

Dr. S

#4 Post by **jalapeno** » Fri Mar 30, 2007 9:06 pm

Thanks for the replies (sorry for the delay)

I saw one at the ortho's when I went to have a broken-off bracket replaced and in hindsight it seems like a dumb question!

#5 Post by **Rickysa** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:16 am

Whoa - glad I caught this thread - interesting stuff, doc!

Glad ya liked it....

The history of ortho is pretty interesting...especially before Stainless Steel and everything was gold.

Each band hand made, and only one archwire throughout treatment...the wire was bent to match the crooked teeth, and then straightened out a bit at a time during treatment.

#6 Post by **Lisa65** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:20 am

So Dr Rick - how does an ortho decide what shape of wire to use on a patient, given that there are different shapes of archwire available?

#7 Post by **Rickysa** » Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:42 am

So Dr Rick - how does an ortho decide what shape of wire to use on a patient, given that there are different shapes of archwire available?

There are some bracket prescriptions that work better with certain archforms. Early on, the "Bonwill-Hawley" archform dominated....rounded from cuspid to cuspid and then straight back from there. Individual archform wasn't considered...Dental arches most resemble a catenary curve, and that is the archform many use...athough it isn't too good at tying into the second molar. Instead, a "Brader arch" that is based on a trifocal ellipse, fits better.

The "out of the box" archwire, should be considered a starting point and adapted to the patients natural archform.

#8 Post by **akeller1975** » Wed Apr 04, 2007 5:21 pm

just wondering if anyone has ever heard of SURESMILE wires? Do they fall into any of these catagories?

#9 Post by **platinum** » Thu Apr 05, 2007 10:01 pm

so patients coming from same orthodontist have similar archs?