Bend/Dip in Archwire? What does it do? (step up/step down?)

[burgers144]

What exactly do these bends on my braces do? I feel like my teeth are completely straight and even except for my right upper lateral. It’s always been pushed back so my upper right cuspid and upper right central are on top of that tooth...but now that my ortho put these bends in my wire my right upper lateral is even more pushed back than before! I’m pretty sure this is the only tooth right now that’s causing problems for me because it just doesn’t want to be in the correct place, but how are the bends helping it move into the proper position when I feel/see it going back further than before?...I attached a pic of what it looks like on me

[jem]

The bend looks as if it is designed to move your lateral incisor down/outwards. It is not completely possible to tell with a photo from one angle only. Trust your ortho-I'm sure you will see movement in the right direction soon.

Good luck with the rest of your treatment-your teeth look pretty good at this point.

jem

[Bracingmyself901]

The science behind bending a wire* is: when first manufacturing the wire, it takes on a memory of its shape as an arch (via heating to a very specific temperature) and then your ortho may bend the wire so it is no longer in the perfect arch. The bent wire will now work (apply forces to your teeth) to get back to the original shape over several weeks.

So now you can imagine which direction this bend will move to return to the shape of a perfect arch. Makes sense?



*depends on the composition of the wire.