How do braces in Windsor work?
You’d have thought by now that the dental profession would have found a way to make braces treatment quicker, wouldn’t you? After all, everything else in the world gets faster all the time. How come it can still take a couple of years for braces in Windsor to straighten teeth?
At The Old Windsor Dental Practice, we get asked questions about the speed of braces treatment all the time. Everyone wants it to be over as soon as possible. Braces are an inconvenience. They interfere with eating. They make brushing your teeth take a whole lot longer. And, let’s face it, they are never going to be a must-have fashion accessory. So, why does braces treatment take so long? Let’s take a look a what’s going on under your gums when you have braces on your teeth.
The components of traditional braces
There are 4 basic components in bracket and wire fixed braces. They are:
- Brackets: made of either metal or ceramic, they are attached to your teeth
- Bonding material: glue or a metal band attach the bracket to your teeth
- Arch wire: a thin metal wire that runs between each of the brackets
- Ligature elastic: this goes around the bracket to hold the wire onto it.
The arch wire exerts a constant pressure on the teeth to pull them into position.
Meanwhile, under your gums…
The pressure from the arch wire pulls the teeth in a particular direction. This is determined by the angle at which the brackets are fixed to the teeth. This pressure affects the membrane surrounding the teeth, stretching it on one side and compressing it on the other. This makes the tooth a bit loose in its socket, and new bone grows in the gap where the tooth is loose to support it. At the same time, bone on the area where the membrane is compressed is resorbed in order to relieve the compression.
This is why you need to come back to the dentist every few weeks for adjustments to tighten the arch wires and get that pressure going again. The younger you are, the quicker this remodelling process but braces in Windsor can straighten your teeth no matter what age you are.
