How do braces move teeth?
It’s amazing how far orthodontic treatment can move teeth through bone. Your bone responds to the tension created by these brackets and wires by making special cells on each side of a tooth. These cells remove bone on one side of the tooth and make bone on the opposite side. That’s what allows the tooth to move. It’s harder to clean your teeth once braces are on, so regular cleaning appointments are more important than ever. Permanent white stains or cavities may form on teeth if plaque isn’t regularly removed. After treatment, retainers are used to hold the teeth in their new alignment. Some retainers are designed to be removable, while others are cemented in place.
CHAPTER 6: Preparing Teeth For Bonding Different methods of moving teeth are covered briefly in this Part 2 of the Orthodontic Bonding Course. Also presented in this part is each step in the process of preparing the teeth for bonding such as: • Pumicing the teeth • Isolation using the Great Lakes Dry Field System primarily • Roughening, etching, rinsing, drying • Preparation of the brackets for a full bonding Several checklists and forms are included with each course.
Teeth move in response to forces applied by the orthodontist. The forces activate biological systems in the ligament surrounding the root of your tooth, which also happens to be positioned between the root and the bone holding your teeth in place. Cells called “osteoclasts” and “osteoblasts” remove and add back bone in response to the force, thus allowing the tooth to move. The rate of tooth movement may be different in each person since their biology and rate of change is also different. The same force will cause different rates of tooth movement in different patients. It is the job of the orthodontist to match the amount of forces applied to the teeth of each individual to move their teeth at the best rate. The amount and direction of forces used are where the orthodontic practitioner comes into play. He/she designs force systems to act through the braces attached to our teeth to move them to the desired position. It is NOT the braces moving our teeth, but instead the orthodontic pra
