Metal Mouth Message Board

I only have bottom ceramic braces on for now, and all my brackets have wire ligatures. As I understand it, wire ligatures are used when an Ortho wants to increase the pressure on a tooth (teeth) to make them move faster. Does this make any sense? Wouldn't they want teeth to move as fast as they can all the time? I read others comments on here about how you don't feel your braces after a while, and I'm at 9 weeks now and at no time during any hour of my waking day do I not realize they are there and feel annoyed by them. The worst part is there isn't even one type of annoyance I have to get used to - it keeps changing. One day one tooth is sore, the next day it's a different tooth, sometimes they click, sometimes the pressure is just really annoying. I'm not sure if this is because of the wire ties, because supposedly they keep the same tension the entire duration between adjustments, where as the elastic ligatures lose tension. But again, if this is being done to make the teeth move faster, than why doesn't everyone use wire ties?

Does anyone know the real reason for an Ortho choosing one over the other?

From what I've been reading, it's for consistent pressure or to make teeth stay where they are. Elastic ligs lose their elasticity over time; starting out with more pressure than when they get changed out. (Small little circles when they put them on compared to stretched out rectangles when they take them off.) There might be other reasons they use wire ligs; teeth out of the arch far enough that elastics would break, not reach, or pull the bracket off the tooth... Wire ligs can be as long as they need them to be to attach brackets to the wire.

Orthos don't necessarily want teeth to move really fast all the time. As adults, fast moving teeth can lead to other problems; gum recession, root resorption.... So they put new ligs on to pressure teeth to move and then the ligs relax some; next appointment new ligs; more pressure then relax.... Coaxing teeth into the right place instead of pushing them all the time.

Some teeth need to move out of the way before another tooth moves. I think that's why we feel odd teeth at odd times.

When teeth start moving less and get into the right places; you should feel less pressure when the bone and other tissues get settled. How long? Depends on how far they have to move or twist or extrude...

Ortho's don't always use wire ties for a couple reasons:

- They take longer to put on and take off; means you use more chair time during wire changes
- They trap food
- They don't always want maximum force exerted on every tooth. Some teeth need more force than others, and ligature choice is one way of varying that force on a tooth-by-tooth basis.

When people say they don't notice their braces, I think they are talking about the feel of the braces against their lips, not movement-related tooth pain/pressure. Of course, the pain/pressure changes with time as your teeth move and the wire/elastic/whatever other hardware set-up is adjusted; you can't ever truly get used to it because it comes and goes and is never the same. But the braces themselves against the lips should become normal-feeling.

On the other hand, I have heard that ceramic brackets are larger, so I suppose they could take longer to adjust to--the feeling against your lips, that is.

I agree with the consistent pressure point - wire ligs don't stretch out over time like elastic.
My ortho seems to prefer wire, particularly for the front of my mouth, which I hate as they're scratchy (I have linguals), but I trust that he knows what he's doing!

On the plus side for those with conventional braces, wire ligs don't stain!