August 18, 2022
Dr. Jordan Seetner
What are braces and how do they work?
When visiting orthodontists in the Toronto area, you will often hear the term “braces”. What are braces and how do they work?
What are braces?
Braces have been around for over a hundred years and for good reason. They are tried and tested and they work very well. The word “braces” is actually an overarching term that includes the following:
- Brackets: The square piece that is bonded or glued to the front of each tooth.
- Archwires: The thin metal wire that goes across all of the teeth and connects to all of the brackets.
- Elastic Ligatures: Miniature elastics used to tie the archwires into each bracket. (These give braces COLOURS!)
- Rubber Bands: Larger, removable elastics that go from hooks on the top brackets to hooks on the bottom brackets, used to align the jaws and correct the bite.
Even though braces have been in existence for a very long time, they are by no means old-fashioned. Braces have evolved tremendously and the newest versions are smaller, slimmer, more rounded, and more precise. Clear or ceramic braces, in particular, are now far more esthetic and stain-resistant than older versions.
Types of braces
Braces can be made from a variety of different materials and come in a variety of different forms. Here are just a few of them:
- Metal braces: Made of surgical-grade stainless steel. Silver in colour.
- Gold braces: Made of a steel-gold alloy. White gold in colour.
- Clear or ceramic braces: Made of porcelain. Clear or white in colour.
- Self-ligating braces: Do not require elastic ligatures. Instead, they use “doors” to click over and hold the archwires.
- Lingual braces: Braces that go on the insides of the teeth.
For more information on types of braces offered at Orthodontics on Queen, click here.
Believe it or not, braces have unique prescriptions. These prescriptions are requested by the doctor and denote their shape, size, and how they attach to the archwires, thereby altering the way in which they move teeth.
How do braces work?
Flexible archwires, shaped and bent in specific ways, are inserted into the brackets. Over-time, these archwires then gradually return to their original shape. In doing so, they put pressure and tension on the teeth and move the teeth along with them. Rubber bands, and other auxiliaries, can be added in order to create additional vectors and move the teeth and jaws in other ways.
The brackets themselves really just act as handles. They help the archwires, rubber bands, and other auxiliaries grab the teeth, so that they can move the teeth appropriately.
Congratulations! You are now a braces expert!!
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The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
What’s a Rich Text element?
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
- fhdskjfhkjdshfkjdshfkdsf
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This is a heading
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The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
The rich text element allows you to create and format headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, images, and video all in one place instead of having to add and format them individually. Just double-click and easily create content.
Static and dynamic content editing
A rich text element can be used with static or dynamic content. For static content, just drop it into any page and begin editing. For dynamic content, add a rich text field to any collection and then connect a rich text element to that field in the settings panel. Voila!
How to customize formatting for each rich text
Headings, paragraphs, blockquotes, figures, images, and figure captions can all be styled after a class is added to the rich text element using the "When inside of" nested selector system.
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