Power chains not closing gap.

[HoneyBee245]

I posted this post before but I wanted to get some more opinions if possible. I’ve had a gap close to the gap that has now been created that closed within a few days, and I am VERY frustrated because I have a gap in my lower two front bottom teeth that has been here for TWO months. It has closed a little but there’s now a tinier gap and it won’t close for anything. Being honest I don’t really use my inner arch elastics that often, when the first gap came when I started using my inner arch elastics daily I did notice it closed a little bit. I don’t know if it was was just a coincidence or what, but I’ve tried wearing them again and still nothing this little gap won’t go away and I have on power chains. My previous visit he gave me a different size power chain on the top and the same one from last time on the bottom could that be why it’s not closing? I don’t like calling in and asking because I don’t wanna be a nuisance. Also will wearing my inner arch elastics help or is that just the power chains job?

[assertives]

For me, elastics did help with gap closure. The elastics puts pressure on the entire arch and adjusts both arches to help them fit together properly. I would say to wear your elastics diligently as per your ortho's instructions. Especially if you have stubborn gaps. Part time or irregular wear is actually pretty pointless because the teeth relapses during the time when the elastics are out. That was what I noticed in my case as well, mine would relapse just with that short time I have them out during meal times. Once things have stabilised, I'm not relapsing anymore when I no longer need to be on elastics.

[SinkFullOfDinner]

Hey HB - Sorry to hear you're stuck in slow motion. It's really frustrating when gaps are slow to respond. Obviously, follow your ortho's instructions because he/she has a plan. I have no idea if your elastic setup is prone to causing or closing gaps. Assertives' configuration obviously helped close, but mine tended to cause space to open up in front of the canines, so who knows. I can say that gaps can be incredibly, glacially, cruelly slow to close some times. Mine took several months longer than expected, but they did close and so will yours. It might just take a little longer than you want.

There are a few tricks that your ortho has in his bag if necessary, so don't worry yet. Like you, a powerchain was taking a looong time to close my last few gaps. So, during one appointment they used two: one under the wire and one over the top. That helped a little, but not enough. Then he decided to stretch a powerchain so that it skipped a bracket and instead attached the next link to the third tooth (or maybe he skipped two bracket and attached the third link to the fourth tooth...I don't remember) so that fewer links were pulling harder by stretching across more brackets. Fun, fun, fun. That was pretty clever, I thought, and pretty effective. To get the last little stubborn bit, however, he had to use wire lacing and twist it tightly enough to force things to close and keep it closed. As I described in my thread at the time, however, the wire lacing makes it look like someone decided to play tic-tac-toe across your braces with a bunch of wire X's. Think of it as a fashion accessory.

So, don't worry. It will get there. There are all kinds of techniques that your ortho can [do to you...subject you to] use on the gaps that don't want to cooperate. Good luck!