“What are the rubber bands on braces for?”
My son needs to have braces soon, and I've never really paid attention to how they looked or what they included until his dentist mentioned it to us. I was just wondering, what are the rubber bands on braces used for?
7 Answers
The rubber bands are very important to fine tuning the micro adjustments that the teeth need to function properly once they're in their new position. Further, they have the ability to actually speed up the case in situations where patients are excellent in cooperation. If you happen to be paying by month, this is a real savings.
The larger rubber bands are used to help adjust bite issues (crossbite/overbites). The small ones are to hold the wire in place around the brackets that help teeth move to the places they want.
The rubber bands are to apply pressure to the teeth in certain areas so that the teeth can be moved to their desired locations.
Good question! Generally speaking, there are 2 groups of elastics: 1. To hold the wire within the brackets in the teeth and 2. To apply a specific point of pressure on a tooth further move it into position.
They provide the connective force necessary to move the teeth and jaw into the proper alignment. The final part of braces are interarch rubber bands, which are used to adjust bite and jaw position. Not every child who gets braces will need interarch rubber bands, as it depends on the child's existing jaw alignment and what the orthodontist recommends.
The rubber bands hold the wire onto the brackets. Without the rubber bands the wire would fall off.
There are 2 types of rubber bands. Very small ones hold the arch wire into the brackets. Usually these come in multi colors. The larger rubber bands help to align the upper and lower arches to improve the bite relationship.
