Gaps Opening Up

[JillD]

Ugh. Once my ortho began to talk about finishing, my extraction gaps began to open up. At my last adjustment, her assistant checked the gaps and said my gaps were all closed. So the ortho told her to remove the power chains and put new wires with tiny metal wires on top. It is less than a week since I saw her, and I found my teeth developed two tiny gaps. They are only a hair's width. Still they are gaps. Does this mean my finishing date will be pushed back? Will I need to wear power chains again? My ortho said that now she would do fine tunings. Can she still do fine tunings with these gaps?

[Zaera]

I'd love to know the answer to this as well. They're still doing some fine tuning and have spoke of debracing twice, only to tweak some more. They put the chains on, take them off, put them back on again and every time they take them back off, small gaps open between a few teeth. I'm hoping that when they do settle on a date and put the chains on again, that it is sufficient to debrace and take a proper mold for retainers.

[JillD]

Thank you for your post. At least I know I am not alone.

[JillD]

So I am back to power chains. This time the ortho put the chains around all of my teeth and told me to come back in two weeks. Does she really think my gaps will close in two weeks? (I mean they are closed already, but would they stay closed when the ortho take the off in two week?) Did your ortho ever make you come back in two weeks for any reason?

BTW this time my power chains are silver. They look pretty cool. I hope they will not stain easily.

[plugnickel69]

The powerchains should work really fast for you. My ortho uses wire lacing to keep gaps from opening after removal of the powerchains.

[BraceFace2o1o]

I am not sure if 2 weeks would be enough to stable the teeth, maybe it depends how big the gap is. I would have thought that as long as the gaps don't reopen within minutes of having the powerchains removed all should be ok, as the impression will be taken within an hour of the braces being removed. So as long as the gaps stay shut during that time the retainer impressions will be of the teeth without any gaps.

I am in a similar situation. At my appointment about 6 weeks ago I requested an upper power chain, I had never had one before but asked for one because I noticed my floss was going between my teeth a lot easier than usual so felt the teeth had moved. I could also just about see a hairline space between my lateral incisor and canine. Within a week of wearing the powerchain the teeth felt tighter and I could no longer see the hairline space.
I went for another appointment earlier this week and my ortho changed out my VERY stained powerchain for ligatures but I didn't think anything of it. That night while flossing I could feel the teeth had loosened up again and I'm due to have my braces removed in not even 3 weeks time. I am going to call in and get them to replace my upper ligatures with a powerchain and hope that 2 weeks will be enough.

I just worry that my teeth are prone to relapse quite a bit if they wont stay put with the braces still on. Obviously that's what our retainers are for, but my ortho only wants to give me a lower bonded...

[Snowglobe32]

Maybe those tiny gaps are supposed to be like that...think about it, our teeth are being held by wires, chains, ties...all sorts of stuff. Once those are all removed, wouldn't the teeth move a bit until they settle into the permanent spot?

[Slader01]

I had a 7mm diastema between my two front teeth before braces. My Ortho used power chains on all of my upper teeth to close the large gap. It closed after about 6 months. My Ortho then removed the power chain and put wire tires ONLY on my 4 front teeth. Within 2 days, gaps formed between my canine's and lateral incisors that only became larger as time progressed. I have no clue why she took my power chain off right after all of that movement had occurred (7mm is a longgggg way for 14 teeth to move!). What stunned me the most is that she only put the "metal power chains" on my 4 front teeth. That made no sense at all to me, and I knew that it was a big mistake. Obviously the other teeth are going to drift back towards their original position. Anyways, she learned from her mistake, and ever since then, I've had an elastic power chain 6-6 (full arch) at every adjustment. The gaps have remained closed. Also, even when I had the metal power chains, my 4 front teeth didn't feel as tight when I was flossing ( I could actually feel a space between my central a and laterals on both sides) as they do when the elastic power chains are on. I thought metal would be stronger than rubber, but in orthodontics, I guess not. The elastic chain keeps them tight. The metal ones do not, in my experience. It kind of makes me wonder what will happen when my braces are removed and I'm depending on those metal permanent and Hawley retainers ... It seems as if my teeth depend on the elastic chain.... hopefully the gaps stay shut.