Metal Mouth Message Board

I've had ceramic braces on my top 8 teeth for the past 9 months. My teeth were straight before I got them on. The only reason I got the braces is to bring one tooth farther down. I regret getting braces I really do. I should have just been happy with my teeth. My orthodontist has been putting a power chain on my braces for almost the entire treatment. Both of my front teeth have slightly jetted out and are no longer aligned with the rest of my teeth. My ortho continues to do the same thing at each appt and I'm not seeing any improvement! If anything, my one front tooth continues to move outward. I'm getting really concerned because I don't want these braces on when I graduate from college (I'm a junior now). Has anyone else had a similar experience with power chains??

Hi there
I haven't had powerchains but am in a similar situation. I didn't really "need" braces but a snaggletooth started to get a bit worse and bothered me. Nobody ever noticed until I pointed it out. I decided to go ahead anyway and it's been over 3 months now. Things have straightened out quite a bit but now my bite is off, midline is off, jaw has changed shape apparently and there's a bit of uncertainty. Hoping elastics will do the trick and bring my jaws into place. Part of me thinks maybe I shouldn't have got the braces but hindsight is a lovely thing and I know I would have been left wondering if I didn't get it. All we can do is to be determined that it'll work out. Since it's been 9 months, maybe you could get a consultation with another ortho for a second opinion. Good luck!

I can't comment specifically on your cases but i know that they sometimes try to evert teeth to make space align and invert back again, they seem to stick to this general sequence: create space, align, close gaps, correct bite, torque roots

Hi,

Powerchain will close space but it will also make the arch narrow. Imagine the powerchain goes around your arch and it's now in a half circle. There will be an inward and upward force on the arch. It's great to close space with it but not too great if you have it on for a long time, unless you have a thick wire that will hold the dimension of the arch. When the arch narrows, teeth will come forward. I hope you have done your homework on algebra. Think of the arch like a parabola on a graph with a fixed length, if the parabola gets squeezed, then the apex of the arch will need to come further up. I haven't seen your teeth and if you are seeing a doctor who had proper training and credential in Orthodontics, they should know what they are doing. Moving a single tooth down is very easy, so if you feel that it's taking too long, feel free to ask him/her what they are trying to achieve and what's left to be done. I hope I didn't confuse you too much.