Can open coil springs come loose?.

[bumbleb79]

Hello
I've had my brace little over a week now and last night when I was cleaning my teeth, I was looking at my coil spring and it looked to have a weird kink in it but just when I looked at it from a certain angle. I tapped the spring gently and there seemed to be a bit of give in it so then it got me worried that it was coming loose!!
The arch wire looks to be threaded through the coil and the elastic bands on either side look to be intact so it doesn't look like it's going to come off but it's made me wonder if the coil has sort of uncoiled slightly?.
Is that what happens when it's doing its thing, I've never had a coil Spring before so don't know what to expect with them
Not only that, the whole wire doesn't feel very tight now like when it was first put on (I'm guessing it's the thinnest wire) so now I'm thinking is it still even moving my teeth......?????

[jem]

Can you post a picture? I can't see how there could be any problem if all is intact as you describe. You could always call your ortho for reassurance. They will probably be happy for you to go in for a quick look.

Jem

[bumbleb79]

To be honest, even if I took a picture it wouldn't come out very well plus you can't really tell. I don't know if I felt it more as my lip feels dry and it was just dragging against the coil...
It still bothers me how I've not really had any pain after I've read people on here who have been in agony the first week or so. I've just felt pressure in the odd tooth but not all at the same time so don't know if that's because it's only a thin wire and the fun will begin once he starts shaving the teeth down and puts thicker wires on?

[jem]

Hi B,

As you know, orthodontics relies on the constant application of low forces on the teeth. Therefore experiencing pain from having brackets and wires should be the exception rather than normal. But I appreciate that starting off the process of moving teeth in adults might be a shock to the system and cause pain in some people. Also some people probably have more sensitive nervous systems than others. Obviously starting with a bigger wire or powerchains or elastics will also involve some initial increase of force so might again be associated with some pain for the more sensitive.

I never had anything more than the feeling of pressure that you describe and I imagine many others on this board will say the same. So don't worry, your teeth will nevertheless be moving. By the time of your first adjustment, you will notice that your wire is straighter than when you began. Thicker wires and wires with a rectangular profile can exert more force, so your orthodontist will not place those wires until your teeth have straightened out to the extent that placing those bigger wires will still only apply acceptably low forces.

Jem